Lil' Detectives
by RekkaShinen1
Summary: [Chapter 13] The Reikai Tantei are sent on a rescue mission but something goes horribly wrong and the spirit detectives are turned to little kids! But they still have to go on new cases! Please read and review!
1. The Emergency

Lil' Detectives by RekkaShinen1  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho but I wish I did as most of us do. I do however own a Hiei and a Kurama plushie. Kawaii! ^__^   
  
  
  
Hello, people! This is RekkaShinen1 and you are reading my new fan fic! After reading please review! Your reviews will sway my decision on whether or not to update! Well, enjoy RekkaShinen1's presentation of Lil' Detectives! ^_^  
  
*******Chapter 1 - The Emergency*******  
  
*Takes place 2 weeks after Dark Tournament*  
  
DING! The school bell rang, signaling the end of yet another boring class. The students flooded the hall, trying to get to their next classes on time. One girl with short brown hair rushed through the halls looking for another classmate.   
  
  
  
"Darn it, Yusuke. Where have you gone now?" Keiko Yukimura wondered. She gave a sigh of frustration and walked to her classroom, supposedly giving up. Yusuke was on the school roof, ditching classes. Again. The spirit detective thought,"Why the hell did Mom force me to go to school? It's not like I'm actually going to go to class. Ah, whatever." He sprawled over onto his back and started to nap.  
  
  
  
"...ke! Yusuke! Wake up, YUSUKE!" Yusuke awoke from his sleep with a jolt. A frustrated girl with bright blue hair bopped him with an oar and then quickly pulled him into a sitting position.  
  
"Jesus, Botan! What's the rush? Can't you tell when a guy's trying to get some sleep?!" Yusuke yelled crossly, still half asleep.   
  
"Sorry, Yusuke, but Koenma's orders. I have to get you to Genkai's temple immediately 'for some emergency' he says," Botan replied calmly. "I'm sure if we just meet with Koenma, he'll tell us all about this emergency."  
  
  
  
"Well, you can just forget about it, Botan! Emergency? It's probaly just another case! I'm still recovering from my encounter with Toguro during the Dark Tournament, remember?!" Yusuke exlaimed, while lying back down onto the roof.   
  
  
  
"I'm also pretty sure Koenma wouldn't call this an emergency unless it really was. Let's just go and see what he has to say, hm? Please, Yusuke? ." The ferry guide to the Spirit World was getting desperate now.  
  
"This is another case, right? Well if it is then why don't you get someone elssseeeee..........Ahhhhhhhh!" The 14 year old spirit detective was interrupted in his statement when Botan leapt onto her oar and unexpectedly jerked him upwards by his hand. She started flying towards the sun in the horizon with the anxious Yusuke dangling single handedly.  
  
"BOTAN! STOP! STOP THE OAR, STOP THE OAR!" Yusuke hollered, while occasionally glancing downward as though he wouldn't dare to think what would happen to him if he let go of the flying contraption.  
  
"Oh, but we mustn't delay. Hmmm......" Botan nodded while seemingly having a train of thought. "What's with the hmmmm...?" Yusuke looked up at the ferry girl.  
  
"Nothing, just calculating some distances. I'd say Genkai's temple would be a good 25 miles away from here, so if we want to make it there by nightfall we're going to have to pick up speed. I think 40 miles per hour should do it." Botan has thought about this before.  
  
"What? God, Botan, don't tell me you said pick up speed? 40 miles per hour?! Botan, we're going to get a ticket from the air police for speeding! Botan! Remember the phrase drive safe?! In this case it would be fly safe! Botan, don't speed up! Don't speeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeddddd....." Yusuke pleaded , afraid for his life and didn't want to die again, clung tightly to the oar's shaft by one hand. He attempted to grip the oar with his other hand but Botan was flying at such top speed that his attempts were futile.  
  
After some time Botan finally started slowing down and Yusuke started to stop his constant muttering of 'don't look down, don't look down'. They had arrived on a serene and lush portion of woodland. They then proceeded to Genkai's temple on foot while exchanging small talk. Finally Botan saw the wooden overlay of Genkai's temple and the pair advanced up and noticed that their companions were already there.  
  
"What took you so long, slacker?!" Genkai put down a cup of tea she had been drinking and yelled at Yusuke. Koenma had stopped pacing back and forth and said,"Yeah, Kurama and Hiei arrived here long before you did! I don't like to be kept waiting, you know!". He gestured towards the two youkai, both calmly sipping their tea.   
  
"Hello, Yusuke. Long time no see." Kurama set down his tea on a nearby table as he stood up to greet his fellow spirit detective. Yusuke replied with,"Hey, Kurama! How's it going, pal?" and they shook hands. "And Hiei, how's my favorite 3-eyed demon?" Hiei layed down his katana and his tea as well and greeted the teen. "Hn. Have you gotten any better since the last time we met?" Yusuke assumed he was referring to his fighting skills.   
  
Kurama chuckled and whispered to Yusuke,"It's his way of saying hello." Yusuke grinned and answered Hiei's question by starting a list of his new techniques and counting them off on his fingers. "....and I can also do a spirit grenade attack but it's not exactly working 'cause every time I used it the effect decreases in power. Oh yeah! I also know...." "Yusuke, exactly how did you figure out how these attacks work?" Kurama asked. Yusuke flashed a mischeivious grin at the others. "Well, Kuwabara has been getting on my nerves sometimes these past couple of weeks so you can kinda guess the rest....."  
  
Botan finally exlaimed,"You know, Yusuke! It's not very considerate to experiment your new techniques on your friends." Yusuke gave one of his looks and said,"Oh, come on, Botan! I had to suffer for 3 days after he tried his new spirit daggers on me! I was just getting some sweet revenge!"   
  
Koenma, looking annoyed, announced," As please as I am with this walk down memory lane CAN WE PLEASE GET BACK TO THE TOPIC OF THE CASE?! You have a new case Yusuke and the sooner we get started the sooner we can wrapped things up and go home! This new case you have, it's another rescue mission....." 


	2. Rescue Mission

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho but I wish I did as most of us do. I do own some characters which will later on appear in the story but you will have to read on! ^_^  
  
*Heyz, everyone! RekkaShinen1 here and wow are we moving fast! Already onto chapter 2! Thanks a bunch to the readers who reviewed for chapter 1; your comments and opinions meant a lot to me! Well that's all for now. This chapter is very sad in my opinion so keep a few tissues ready. (Ok, maybe not that dramatic. Ok, so maybe it is. ^_^) Enjoy this chapter of Lil' Detectives!   
  
*******Chapter 2 - Rescue Mission*******  
  
"Yusuke, listen up!" Koenma commanded sharply."This new rescue mission you have involves many new aspects. Your rescue charge is the princess of the snow apparition kingdom."   
  
"Snow apparition?" Yusuke thought out loud.  
  
"Yes. The snow apparition kingdom coexists with the ice apparitions. Feudal arguments occasionally rise between the two neighbor states because, well, basically the ice apparitions believe in a democratic rule while the snow apparitions prefer a monarchy with a royal family and everything." Koenma explained as best as he could.  
  
"So what does this have to do with us?" Yusuke didn't get what this had to do with his case. "Shhhhh, he's getting to that part." Botan whispered to him softly.   
  
"The royal family of the snow apparitions, the Haritsuta clan, has ruled over their country for quite some time . I believe they've existed for about 400 years. As you can probaly tell, the elders of the ice apparitions are getting fed up with their style of leadership, they want democracy for both countries and they want it now!" Koenma continued.  
  
"The ice apparitions......are you referring to the Koorime?" Hiei spoke out, the first time in a while.  
  
"No, Hiei. I believe Koenma is talking about the other types of ice apparitions. If I'm not mistaken there are more than 5 different types of ice apparitions, Koorimes included." Kurama answered Hiei's question with a knowing glance. Hiei smirked in reply.  
  
"Quite right, Kurama. This ties in with your case, Yusuke. One race of ice apparitions called the Hishinja with the aid of others has decided to take action. The apparition princess," Koenma pulls out a book and opens it up to a bookmarked page," was kidnapped and held hostage, sometimes even tortured. Her name is Kori Haritsuta." The junior ruler gestures toward the book and Yusuke leaned forward to check it out.  
  
A picture of a petite maiden with medium length light blue hair (but not as light as Botan's) dressed in a dark blue and white kimono was imprinted on the page. Yusuke took a look at the kidnapped girl and was instantly reminded of someone else but he couldn't quite place who it was that this girl looked like. He set the volume down onto the table to let the others look at it. Botan, Kurama, and Hiei all set eyes on the picture.  
  
Kurama was the first to notice the color of her eyes. He was awestruck when he gazed at the color of her eyes. (A/N: To Kurama fans, don't worry Kurama didn't fall in love with her, he is just fascinated with the color of her eyes ^__^) The princess's eyes were a glossy tinted shade of blue but if you looked closely they had the sparkle and shimmer just that of.....a crystal.  
  
Hiei and Botan both saw it at the same moment. 'It' was the brilliant pattern of what looked like stars in the backdrop. They were arranged so that the tiny dots of light created an outline of a snake-like figure in the sky behind Kori's head.   
  
Yusuke was getting bored, he quickly asked Koenma," So just who was she kidnapped by? The Hishinja people?" Koenma responded, "Unfortunately no. It's not that easy. Kori Haritsuta was taken hostage by a gang of Hishinja radicals and....," he casted his eyes on the tatami-matted floor of Genkai's temple,"her own family."   
  
"What? That's horrible! Her own family?! How could they?!" Botan cried. Yusuke fumed, "Damn those cruel bastards! Someone being tormented by their own family?! They make family sound like it's a bad thing!"  
  
"Yes, but that's not even the worst part. An even bigger downside is Kori's brother was supposed to be the next heir to the crown of the yuki genshi (snow apparition *I'm getting tired of saying snow apparition over and over again so I thought I'd tried in Japanese- teehee ^_^) . But he reportedly disappeared about 2 months ago, the same time the king and queen along with other relatives went on a journey to construct an agreement with the ice apparitions, and hasn't turned up since. However, some of my other scouts have found a body incased in ice located within a cave in an unknown mountain range. This mysterious mountain range is situated in a nameless part of snow apparitions' country. Furthur investigation with some very intelligent analyzers have proven the body to be the future heir to the throne and sadly, Kori's younger brother." Koenma said all this without showing the convulsion that rippled through his toddler body.   
  
"It turns out his parents had snuck him out during the middle of the night, and either took his life by their own hands or by paying criminals to do it. All this, murdering a son" Koenma shook his head in a grief," How ever something this horrible could've happened is something beyond me."  
  
Upon hearing this bit of info, Hiei, Kurama, Botan and even Genkai looked horror struck. Genkai instantly closed her eyes and looked away, pitying the poor offspring of such a disgraceful family. Botan was almost in tears, she couldn't bear the incredible misfortune befalling on the two youngsters, one was being tortured, the other dead.   
  
Kurama was sickened by this act of cruelty; "Their parents want their children to suffer so much just for the judgement of how to be ruled? It's too horrifying to tolerate." Kurama thought angrily. And he was supposed to be the calm one. Hiei had seen this kind of brutality many times before with other demons but it didn't stop him from wanting to gut them with his katana and hear them beg for mercy they didn't show. This was too appalling.   
  
However, Yusuke, fury clearly shown on his face, leapt up from the chair he was sitting on and quickly strode towards the door. "And where do you think you're going, Yusuke?" Genkai inquired. "Koenma, tell me where this snow apparition country and where this kingdom is located....." Yusuke, still facing the door, ignored Genkai's question by asking one of his own. Koenma infomed the raged spirit detective and asked," But Yusuke, what exactly do you plan on doing?"   
  
Yusuke turned back towards his companions, jabbed a finger at his chest and retorted by saying, "Isn't it obvious? I'm going to kick their faces in, then rip out their eyes from the eye sockets and feed it to them. Pyschotic power hungry jackasses! I'm going to make them wish they were in hell after I'm through with them!"  
  
"Yusuke! Wait!" Koenma ordered and gestured for Hiei, Kurama, and Botan to accompany him. "Get Kuwabara to join you as well. The more the merrier." Yusuke grinned in a sympathetic sort of way and turned to leave. However, Koenma wasn't finished.  
  
"One more thing, mister! Note, don't tell Kori about her parents murdering her brother. She has enough hardships to deal with without having to hear her sibling was gone and she's alone now. Oh yes, and Yusuke? I never told you, did I? Why her parents were torturing her like this? Rumors has it that Kori possesses and can unleash terrific power. Used for destruction and to benefit criminals or to put her power to use for good is up to her. The king and queen wish to use their daughter's power to gain control entirely of Makai. To do that, they secretly worked with a band of the Hishinja to make it look as though they were innocent and the radicals to look like the bad guys. In return, my scouts have wheedled out that the radicals will be given a great fortune of riches, money, and jewels not to mention a high position as co-rulers if they succeed in taking over Makai. It could be possible with Kori's power and her cooperation."  
  
"Thanks for the 411, Koenma. Now if you don't mind I gotta hostage to rescue." Yusuke turned once again to leave.  
  
"Yusuke? ANOTHER THING!" Koenma yelled at the departing spirit detectives.  
  
"WHAT IS IT NOW, PACIFIER JUNKIE?! I have a princess to save and criminals to slaughter!!!!!!" Yusuke was irritated at being stopped so many times.  
  
"OH, SO FIRST I WAS A CRYBABY TODDLER AND NOW I'M A PACIFIER JUNKIE???!!!! I just wanted to say.....good luck, Yusuke. Go kick some ass!" Koenma yelled back with as much ethusiasm as Yusuke had.  
  
The spirit detective and the two youkai quickly turned and sprinted at top speed towards Yusuke's town to fetch Kuwabara and to stop the wicked pair of conquesters, the king and queen of snow apparitions.   
  
Will Yusuke and the others make it in time to save Kori and stop her parents? Or will Makai be taken over by two manipulative psychos? The answer will only be found out in the next chapter!   
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Author's Note: Hello again! RekkaShinen1 here (or Rekka for short)! I hoped you enjoyed this chapter of Lil' Detectives! This chapter was pretty horrific though, I felt so guilty during and after writing this. Please review! Your opinions are so important to me, I don't mind if you criticized my writing but at least give me a reason why and I will consider it. Well that's all for now! Remember R/R! Thanks for reading! ^__^ 


	3. Recruiting Kuwabara

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho but I do however own Kori Haritsuta, her whole family, and all the apparition clans (like the Hishinja mentioned in the last chapter; they don't play a major role in this chapter however.)   
  
*Helloz again, people! This is Rekka and this is chapter 3. Thanks a lot again to people who reviewed! Ok, today I don't have a lot to say today so enjoy!  
  
***Arigatou gozaimasu, mina-san!***  
  
*Now RekkaShinen1 presents*  
  
*******Chapter 3 - Recruiting Kuwabara*******  
  
Ten minutes after leaving Genkai's temple, Yusuke and the others arrived at Kuwabara's house. Yusuke loudly pounded on the front door and Shizuru, Kuwabara's older sister, opened the door.  
  
"What are you kiddies doing here?" Shizuru looked at them oddly.  
  
"Oh, hello Shizuru! We're here to see Kuwabara!" Botan stepped forward to greet her friend.  
  
"Ok, well. Kazuma is in his room right now. Do you want some tea or something?" Shizuru waved for Yusuke, Hiei, Kurama and Botan to come into the house. The boys entered, declined her offer for tea and rushed up the stairs to Kuwabara's room. However, Botan exclaimed,"Oh, yes! Tea would be lovely!" and followed the older girl to the kitchen. Inside the kitchen Shizuru prepared some tea and she and Botan sipped while exchanging casual conversation.  
  
Upstairs was a different story. Yusuke had just finished explaining their new case. "Nuh uh! I'm not risking my neck again! I happen to like my life!" Kuwabara yelled while violently shaking his head.  
  
"But Kuwabara, you're part of our fighting force; it'd be wrong not to ask you to come with us." Kurama, calm as always, replied to the near hysterical Kuwabara.  
  
Yusuke gave Kuwabara a sheepish grin and said,"But we're going to go kick some demon ass! What's better than fighting?" Kuwabara threw Yusuke a dirty look and responded to the spirit detective,"Uh, my life for instance! There's no way, Urameshi!"  
  
Hiei smirked, turned to the spirit detective and said,"Give it up, Yusuke. We don't need the useless oaf anyway. It really is unnecessary to drag along a pathetic lump."  
  
Kuwabara angrily stood up, fury revealed on his face, and grabbed Hiei by the shirt collar. "Who's useless, huh Shorty?! I bet I could shove your face through the wall if I felt like it!"  
  
Hiei threw Kuwabara's hands off him in disgust and replied,"Is that a challenge? I'd like to see you try."  
  
Kuwabara yelled back,"Anyday, shrimp!"  
  
The 3-eyed jaganshi smirked again and asked,"Feh! Am I supposed to be intimidated?"  
  
Yusuke, clearly sick of this argument, broke it up. "Now, children! I really don't want to have to spank you guys! Kuwabara, just lay off!"  
  
Kuwabara, his pride hurt and it being a major part of him, huffed and said,"You know what, Urameshi? Since I'm such a good friend, I'll make an exception and come along with you this time. I can't let Kurama and shrimpface take all the credit."   
  
Hiei expressionlessly retorted,"I have a name, you know? Oh wait. Of course you don't, you don't have half a brain." (A/N: To Kuwabara fans out there, I'm not purposely bashing Kuwabara for the fun of it. I bash him because Hiei doesn't seem to like him ^^;)  
  
Kuwabara glared furiously at Hiei and fumed at him,"Shut yer trap, Hiei!", saying his name in reference to Hiei's comment before. The demon only glared back, wishing he could whip out his katana and rip the baka ningen limb from limb. Hell, he thought, it wasn't a bad idea considering the circumstances. But it wouldn't do to get the idiot's best friend angry.   
  
This whole time Kurama was watching with mild interest while Hiei and Kuwabara snapped at each other and when Kuwabara announced his decision to tag along with the others, Kurama realized Hiei, knowingly or not, had goaded him into joining them whether he liked it or not. Yusuke only discovered it a split second after Kurama. The other two were still throwing death glares at each other.  
  
Kurama leaned towards Yusuke. "He really does know how to stab the pride in the heart, huh?" Yusuke whispered back,"I can't believe Hiei of all people could change Kuwabara's mind; he's as stubborn as a mule!"  
  
"Oy! Urameshi, I heard that!" Kuwabara taunted Yusuke, while teasingly swinging a punch towards him, knowing he would dodge it. Yusuke quickly curved out of Kuwabara's punch and said,"Well, anyway, thanks and good job, Hiei. You actually got him to change his mind."   
  
"Oh, please, fool. You think I was actually trying to get this lump to accompany us? He won't be much help anyway." Hiei stalked out the door.   
  
Kurama chuckled and said,"That's his way of saying you're welcome. Hiei has enough different codes to create a secret spy language." Yusuke snickered,"I'd like to see that made into a school subject, How to Speak Hiei!"  
  
Kuwabara, irritated because he didn't understand what they were rambling about, pointed at the door and said,"Guys, can we go now? We have a girl to rescue! And if we go to the apparition world I might see my darling Yukina. (singing) Oh, Yukinaaaa! Lalala, your herooooo is cominnnnnggggg!" With that he leapt up and half sprinted and half danced through the door, still singing. Yusuke and Kurama stared at him with wide eyes and sweatdropped.  
  
"Shouldn't we tell we him we're going to the snow apparition country, not the ice apparition?" Kurama asked Yusuke while they got up from the chairs they were sitting on. As they walked to the door Yusuke replied with a shrug of his shoulders,"Well, I hate to ruin his fun. He's so happy."   
  
Hiei was already outside, unseen as he waited for the others on a thick branch in the tallest tree, the leaves veiling him from sight. On their way to the front door Yusuke and Kurama called for Botan. She walked out of the kitchen while saying,"Thanks for the tea, Shizuru!"   
  
"Anyway, Yusuke, I've created a portal for you guys. It will lead straight into the apparition world." Outside, Hiei and Kuwabara were waiting and when the others came out they surrounded Botan. The bubbly ferry girl made a motion with her hands like she was opening a book. A shimmering, rainbow colored portal opened and the 4 Reikai Tantei climbed through it, one-by-one. When the last one, Yusuke, had stuck his foot through the portal, Botan wished him luck.   
  
"Good luck, Yusuke! Go save that poor girl!"   
  
"Thanks, Botan! Be back soon!" Yusuke gave her a thumbs up. And then he shoved his head through the sparkling break and was gone.   
  
*Author's note: Wheeeee! Another chapter done! How did you guys like that one? Ok, I'm sorry they're taking forever to get to Makai ^^; but I promise next chapter there will be a lot of fight scenes! Just an interesting fact, I made up Kori's name and did you know that her last name, Haritsuta, means "crystal ivy"? I chose this name because it sounded elegant, not to mention perfectly fitting for a princess like Kori! I seem to like names that mean something so if I can't find a good name for a person I just make it up! Ok, I promise next chapter they're fighting! Thanks for reading and note to review! ^__^ 


	4. Race Across Makai

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho but I own Kori and the 4 warriors that will later on appear in this story! (Hehe, I'm not going to spoil this chapter for you by giving you their names! Just read on to find out ^_~)   
  
*This is Mint and welcome to chapter 4! Wow, we really are moving fast, chapter 4 already! Well I just want to say I love getting reviews and hearing your opinions about my fic! Thanks so much to reveiwers and as for new readers I hope you will continue to join us as the story progresses on! Anywayz, moving on! Just like I promised here is an action-packed chapter of Lil' Detectives; R/R please!  
  
*Now RekkaShinen1 presents*  
  
*******Chapter 4 - Race across Makai*******  
  
In the portal, the spirit detectives were rushed along in a complete darkness. Traveling in the black tunnel, they were unable to speak to each other, seeing as they were moving too quickly forward to open their mouths. This went on for about 20 seconds and then they all saw a bright blue sparkle of light at the other end of the tunnel.   
  
In Makai a specific pack of demons, that stood on 4 legs and had purple and green scales and 6 horns on the side of their heads, were hunting for something to eat. However all of them looked up as a shadowy swirling hole appeared in the ice blue sky. Four glowing orbs of light, one green, the next blue, another red, and the last orange declined down to the ground, 30 feet away from the 4-legged demons. Sensing the power of these newcomers, the demons promptly turned and retreated to another area to look for prey.  
  
As the gleaming spheres traveled downward towards the ground, one of them started to wildly fly around. The other 3 on the other hand were decending in a straight path down, as if a direct path had been drawn for them. The orange globe hit, no more like crash landed on the ground before the other 3 and transformed into the 3-D outline of a person.  
  
"Owwwwww! That hurt!" The person, more specifically known as Kuwabara, bellowed. As the other 3 orbs landed, still not touching the floor they also turned back into humans.   
  
"Wa ha ha ha ha! Kuwabara, you were like a human rocket! Speeding towards the ground, out of control, you could've been seriously injured. But you survived! Hey guys, here we have Rocket Kuwabara. Oh no. Houston, we have a problem and we think it's name is Kuwabara..." Yusuke doubled up, laughing wildly.  
  
"SHUT UP, URAMESHI! It was hard to control that thing! How the hell was I supposed to know how to control myself flying as a ball of light?!" Kuwabara yelled at the hysterical Yusuke.  
  
Kurama chuckled and said,"All you had to do, Kuwabara, was control your spirit energy to form a ward around yourself and you could've floated down without a fault."  
  
Hiei sneered at the baffled human. "I suppose you couldn't even do something as simple as that, huh? You worthless dolt! Beginner level F demons could perform a better ward than you, you pathetic excuse for a detective."  
  
Kuwabara, glaring at Hiei with fire in his eyes, crouched as if he wanted to jump Hiei and started to rant,"YEAH?! WELL, I BET.....". But he never got to finish, seeing as Yusuke grabbed him in an arm lock and said,"Oh, hey! Look, Kuwabara, it's Yukina!"  
  
"Yeah, right, Urameshi! You're fooling anyone, you're just trying to distract me from ripping...." Kuwabara struggled out of Yusuke's grasp. Once again he didn't finished his sentence because of an interruption.   
  
"Kazuma-san?" A sweet girly voice broke his harsh tones. The detectives looked up and saw a young girl with sea-blue-green hair and large innocent eyes dressed in a blue kimono standing not even 10 feet away.  
  
"Yu...Yukinaaaaaa!" Kuwabara uttered a happy squeal and rushed up to the ice apparition."Oh! I've missed you, my love, I was hoping I would see you here! See, the power of love is on my siiiiiiiiide....." He sang the last word stretched out.  
  
"Kuwabara, get back!" Kurama anticipated Yukina's attack a millisecond before she performed it. Yukina shrieked,"Ice darts!" and swiped at the stunned Kuwabara once with each of her hands. Countless numbers of small but sharp dart-shaped icicles flew out from Yukina's hands and shot towards the now bewildered Kuwabara. Kurama summoned his rose whip in a flash and, flinging it expertly at the ice darts, shattered each one of them with a *ping*. Kuwabara slumped down to his knees and choked out,"Y-Yu-Yukina? Whyyyyyyy?" Yusuke looked down at his heartbroken friend and instantly felt sympathy for him.   
  
"It's not Yukina; this is an imposter. A rather poorly fashioned one if I say so myself. Ice apparitions don't have attacks, let alone perform them." Hiei stepped forward to Kurama's side and pulled out his sword, his trusted katana. Hiei menacingly asked the fraud,"Who the hell are you? As far as I can tell, you are not the Yukina I know." and then mentally smacked himself for revealing that he actually knew Yukina personally. However the fake Yukina simply prepared herself to release a fresh wave of ice darts. Hiei quickly leapt forward and slashed the phony through the stomach.   
  
The fake Yukina fuzzed out like a lame TV then disappeared, and Kurama informed the others,"It's an illusion, the projection is made by someone or something and when they saw that we figured it out they stopped projecting the image."  
  
"Very good, Kurama. Or should I say Youko? How did you all like my Wish Illusion? It creates a reflection of the thing a person most longs for and in this case it reflected the idiot's greatest desire." A new voice rang out in the suddenly cold atmosphere. The whole landscape changed, it was all an illusion, to an artic scene. Snow-capped mountains loomed in the far background and as the spirit detectives all looked around at the new beautiful view the dry dirt morphed into glistening snow and the twisted trees changed into snow-coated pines. As Kuwabara and Yusuke marveled at the landscaped beauty Hiei and Kurama observed their surroundings for the source of the voice. "Up here!" The voice replied as if reading their minds. "Welcome, intruders."   
  
Spotting a nearby low iced-over cliff, the Reikai Tantei noticed the lone figure positioned on it. It was a relaxed looking golden haired guy sporting patterned black and gold armor, his hair was crazily spiked up, almost like he had been struck by lightning. Kurama noticed he had a lightning bolt design etched into his upper right arm as if it had been burned into his skin. Underneath the armor he wore a black sleeveless T-shirt and black pants with fierce golden dragons on them. He was absentmindedly playing with a 4-feet long thunderbolt-shaped staff. "Like I said, welcome, trespassers, to Hiseken, the world of ice and snow apparitions. No, I'm sorry I stand corrected. I meant get the hell out of this world, out of Makai before I kick the shit out of you all. Your last chance, I don't create my orders. Oh, wait where are my manners? Didn't even introduce myself, the name's Temashi. I'm a warrior of the infamous group, the Tenshi, we're the warriors of Element and we're here to stop you. But you could say I'm the lord of lightning , I can control it at my will."  
  
"We don't back down from a challenge! You must work for the royal family jackasses!" Kuwabara confidently yelled at the warrior."Bring it on, you will pay for imitating my darling Yukina! You overconfident bastard!"  
  
"Arrogant, aren't we? And a bit idiotic too." Hiei snickered at this, since it was point he had been trying to get across for months. "Fine, don't say I didn't warn you. Lightning Flash!" Temashi had leapt off the cliff over their heads and landed neatly behind them; he began summoning bolts of lightning from the blue sky that rained down to where the detectives were standing. They all leaped to a different spot and seconds later another lightning bolt shot down to where they were standing. The group had no choice but to keep jumping constantly and hope that they didn't slow down or else they'd get eletrocuted to death.   
  
Yusuke managed to shout to the others,"Guys! First don't stop running! Second I think I see shelter or something, run at 12 o'clock!" Promptly they all turned and ran forward, towards the cliff Temashi was originally standing on. Hiei and Kurama, pros at this because even ex-thieves need to know quick routes to escape, scaled the cliff in a flash and attempted to help Yusuke and Kuwabara. Temashi realized their tactics and grabbed his thunderbolt staff. "Like it? It's name is ThunderSpark." He gracefully waved it around and with a final slash of the staff, dozens of glowing electric spheres soared towards the small party.   
  
"It's not for looks only, the 'glowing' is created by the thousands of volts of electrical power that's contained in each one of my Volt Barrages. Get hit and you become fried chicken. The question now is....who gets fried first?"   
  
With a wave of his hands the orbs flew at top speed towards the detectives. Knowing even they couldn't stop so much electric power Hiei and Kurama turned tail and darted towards the 'shelter' Yusuke had seen before, with the other two close behind. They all finally stumbled upon a giant wall covered with moss and with only one opening in the middle. Demons and humans dashed inside and sprinted around more giant moss covered walls until all the Volt Barrages hit a wall and disappeared, causing a slight explosion and disintegrating a whole patch of moss.   
  
Kurama peered around at his surrounding settings and gasped,"Yusuke, Hiei, Kuwabara! Stay together! We're in a labyrinth....." A view from a bird's eye would show that the maze was a crest formed by a lightning bolt, a candle's flame (but with no candle of course ^^; just telling how it would look like), a drop of water and a leaf. (But our heroes don't know how it's shaped of course.)   
  
Yusuke look stunned and choked out angrily,"That cunning bastard! He led us in here on purpose!" Kuwabara reassured his friend,"But if we stay together we'll be fine!" Then all of a sudden half a dozen Volt Barrages soared at them and would have electrocuted them if all the detectives didn't leap away at the last second. "There's more, keep running and don't get separated!" Kurama warned the others. For the first minutes in this chase the group kept together but then they ran into a clearing with 4 forks, all leading down into utter darkness. Unfortunately they each took a fork, hoping the others would follow him but unsuccessful.   
  
What they all did notice however was that the furthur they moved into the dark tunnel the wall were not covered with moss but was made of rock and the more light there was. When each detective reached the brightest point every single one of them noticed a symbol enscripted on the rock wall.  
  
Yusuke made out that there was a bolt of lightning on his wall, Kurama observed there was a leaf, Hiei sighted a single flame, and Kuwabara spotted a drop of water compressed on the passageway's rock wall. Furthur more, while each were walking at a set pace each spirit detective eventually found the gateway to a room.   
  
When Yusuke ran into a thick yellow door he unexpectedly thought about all the times his family and friends warned him about not being brash and reckless, and he grinned while suddenly pushing the door open and walking inside. He had come into a ice covered room and ice covered didn't even begin to describe it. Every inch of the room was glazed over with ice, the floor, the walls even the ceiling. "We meet again, detective. Only this time it gets serious." Yusuke abruptly noticed Temashi was standing on a block of solid ice and was grinning. "I have only heard of your greatness, the spirit detective who defeated Toguro and won the Dark Tournament. But we shall find out exactly how great you are, eh?" The warrior pulled out ThunderSpark and went into fighting mode. Yusuke prepared himself mentally and physically to fight.  
  
In another channel Hiei was getting bored as he quickly sprinted along. "When the hell will this tunnel end?!" He wondered. Suddenly it started to blizzard in the corridor. Snow and ice clods flew everywhere, stirring up a whirlwind. Hiei pulled out his sword and quickly scanned the channel for the source of the snow. The hall being unclear and blurry working to his disadvantage, Hiei finally sensed the source of the sudden blizzard and delivered 5 quick slashes. The snowstorm stopped instantly as a black piece of machinery fell to the floor, shattered and Hiei continued to hurry along. Finally he reached a crimson door and he peered at it with his own crimson eyes. He smirked and quickly shoved the door open. Inside the demon took in the room's settings, rock floor, rock ceiling, rock walls, and noted 'Excellent, this room will accommodate well to my skills.' Hiei suddenly felt another presence in the room and swiftly sliced the air before him with his katana. With speed that almost matched Hiei's own a glimpse of a figure disappeared from in front of Hiei and reappeared again now 10 feet away. This new appearance had striking ruby hair, short and rumpled almost purposely, and amber eyes holding something like admiration and wonder to them. Like Temashi he was dressed in armor, but unlike the warrior of lightning his armor was crimson and topaz colored. He carried a blade (but no scabbard) that was tucked carefully into his belt at his waist. He also had a mark on his upper right arm, only it was an ember of fire.   
  
His amber eyes sparkled as he spoke,"Hiei, was it? Ah, yes, the ruthless demon warrior, I've only heard stories of you and now I get the pleasure of meeting you and fighting you. Like Temashi I'm also a warrior of Element, I'm Yunmatsu, warrior of fire." Hiei gazed at him with scarlet eyes and asked him,"If you're as powerful as you make yourself sound, why the hell are you working for scum like the rulers of Hiseken?" The sparkle in Yunmatsu's eyes vanished for a second."We warriors of Element are bound to our leaders by loyalty. I really despise this but my orders are to eliminate you and any intruders that cross the threshold and our orders are orders." The twinkle in his eyes returned and he pulled his sword from his belt. "Enough conversation. Get ready, Hiei and we shall duel." "Gladly." Hiei responded while postioning his already drawn sword in his hands. Yunmatsu's sword suddenly exploded with energy as a stunning blaze surrounded the blade. Hiei thought with a sneer,'Now this is worth my time.'  
  
Who are these warriors of Element? And what fate awaits Kurama and Kuwabara? Yusuke vs. Temashi and Hiei vs. Yunmatsu: who will win? More characters and lots of action in the next chapter of Lil' Detectives!   
  
Author's note: Whoooooo, chapter 4! Chapter 4! That took a long time to write! I couldn't fit all the fighting into chapter 4 so looks like the Reikai Tantei are fighting in chapter 5 too! Hope you enjoyed that chapter and review! 


	5. Facing Challenges

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho but I do own Kori, Temashi, Yunmatsu, and the other 2 warriors (once again I'm not giving out names to not spoil the chapter).  
  
*Hello people! This is Mint with chapter 5! Yay! This chapter is simply a continuation of chapter 4, these chapters are longer that I thought they would be, I thought I could fit all the action and fighting into chapter 4 but obviously I'm so wrong. ^_^ That's ok! More fighting and adventure! This chapter has a ton of long paragraphs, sorry about that if you prefer smaller ones! Also there will be a short intermission in the middle in case you need a break, this chapter is much longer than mine usually are. ^^; Thanks to reviewers and readers! Reviews are cool so remember to R/R please!  
  
*Now RekkaShinen1 presents*  
  
*******Chapter 5 - Facing Challenges*******  
  
Kurama raced along the passageway, only stopping briefly to check out the enscripted sign on the wall, a leaf. Examining the symbol momentarily he found nothing suspicious about it and resumed jogging down the channel. Suddenly he darted forward as fast as he could. A six feet long spike plunged into the ground where Kurama was standing just a second ago. Kurama sprinted down the hall as fast as he could to avoid more spikes that continued to fall on his already traveled path. Finally he pulled out his rose, summoned his rose whip and lashed out quickly at an unseen enemy. A advance piece of machinery, identical to the one Hiei had destroyed not long ago in a different tunnel, fell to the ground in ruins. Kurama analyzed it for a second then decided he had better run along and did just that. Finally he stopped as he reached an emerald colored door. Kurama noted it was like walking into a fantasy where riches and gold waited on the other side but in this case it was different, the Youko fox sensed an unpleasant spirit energy waiting at the opposite side of the door.   
  
Kurama hesitated for a split second, then stretch out his hand and thrusted the door open. The room itself was completely made up of rocks, almost exactly like Yunmatsu's lair but with deliberate differences. The walls were unsecure mounds of rocks, the floor consisted of dirt and when Kurama looked up at the ceiling he saw that shrubs and small trees grew at the top of the walls to touch the ceiling above. In other words, it was a mini forest. Perfectly camouflaging in, Kurama didn't notice Redajyu until he stood only 6 feet away from him. Kurama became aware that this was his opponent. Redajyu had on the warriors' signature armor in emerald and dark amethyst and his long hair, tied back casually, was as green as the trees in a dark forest. His eyes were the most interesting color, amazingly they were bright sea green and Kurama saw he also had a design on his upper right arm in the shape of a leaf. Tucked into his belt was an ax connected to a length of chain. Kurama's eyes widen when he saw it. 'An ax sickle! Only few people are skilled at using it and there are almost no ways to defend against it!'   
  
Peering at Kurama with his sea green eyes, Redajyu told him,"You're Youko Kurama, there's no doubt. It's pitiful that a once brilliant bandit has been reduced to this. I'm not here to give you pity however, I'm Redajyu, warrior of earth. Meet Terra." With that he drew his ax sickle from his waist and flung the ax part at Kurama. Kurama didn't budge and Redajyu quickly pull Terra back by the chain and asked,"Why didn't you dodge it? You could've lost your head." Kurama just chuckled and said,"I felt no spite from it and I don't think it suits you to kill an undefended opponent." Redajyu nodded with approval and said,"You are more clever than I first thought, now that you've proven worthy, fight." Kurama drew the rose and transformed it into the rose whip. "Before we battle, tell me one thing. Why have you, warriors who can put their skills to good use, chosen to serve under such poor masters? They only care about their own personal gain and have even slaughtered their own son to acheive power." Redajyu just sighed,"You wouldn't understand. It's not about my own choices and what we think, we are fixed with serving one master for the rest of our lives. But that is not important right now, my orders are to kill you and your companions, whether I like the job or not." With that he again flung the ax at Kurama, who dodged it in the nick of time.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*   
  
In another hall Kuwabara raced down until he saw the water drop symbol. "I must be getting close!" Kuwabara ran faster. Then he heard the sound of a rushing river and saw that the hall was being flooded. "AHHHHHH!" The human turned and promptly ran in the other direction. Never-the-less the wave caught him and he fought to stay on top. "Dammit! Shizuru told me the swimming lessons would come in handy, why didn't I listen?!" He sank a few feet and paddled his way to the surface. Suddenly Kuwabara caught sight of a black box that looked like a security camera. As he was tossed around he somehow got near the machine and punched it hard causing it to break. The water instantly leaked away into unseen drains. "Whoa, what was that?!" Kuwabara decided he'd better get going before another flood comes and dashed as fast as he could until he ran into an azure door. He cautiously pushed it open and gasped. He gaped at the giant 15 feet aquarium that nearly took up all the space in the room except for a 2 feet walk around it.   
  
"You there, human! What are you doing down there?" Kuwabara looked straight up and noticed a grinning face peering down at him. "Don't just stay down there, come on up!" Kuwabara decided he didn't like this guy's peppy cheerfulness. He yelled back,"How the heck am I supposed to get up there?" The guy answered,"I don't know! Fly!" then smiling widely at the bewildered and perplexed look on Kuwabara's face, continued,"Aw, geez! I was only kidding. Use the stairs!" He pointed at the set of stairs that led straight to the top. Kuwabara looked sheepish for not seeing them and quickly scurried to the top. He gawked at the most unusual battlefield he had ever seen. He and the mysterious guy was standing on floating blocks of wood, that didn't seem to be moving anywhere. Other than the ones the boys were standing on, there were approximately 20 others, just jumping distance near each other. Kuwabara turned his attention to the other guy.   
  
This new character had spiky sapphire hair that stuck up, cobalt blue eyes, and wore a super happy expression. Like the other warriors, he had on armor in cerulean and silver. He also had the warriors' weapon but he carried the most unusual and the coolest staff Kuwabara had ever seen. The symbol he possessed on his arm was a drop of water. Unlike the others, almost as if declaring his independence he wore 3 earrings on one ear, small thick silver rings. He flashed Kuwabara another happy grin and said,"Hello, human! My name is Gouji and water's my specialty! Who are you?" Kuwabara looked stunned at this ecstatic outburst,"Uh, my name's Kuwabara and...uh....I'm a spirit detective...." Gouji looked shocked. "You're the spirit detective sent here to stop us?! You don't look much like one! Well, I suppose we should just get this over with. I'm sorry, human, but I must kill you." He waved his staff and said,"I would suggest you start running, my Hydra's capable of emanating a whole waterfall of water on you!" To prove his point, a cascade of water poured down on Kuwabara's head, knocking him off the wood block he was standing down and sinking him down 5 feet into the water. Kuwabara choked then quickly tried to surface. He got to the top of the water and grabbed onto the nearest wooden block to stay afloat. He then asked the wrong question next. "What the heck are you trying to do? Kill me by drowning me?!" Gouji laughed then said,"You do have good ideas, human."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*   
  
Back in Temashi's lair Yusuke was struggling vainly as the ThunderSpark caught him in a lock. It wrapped itself around Yusuke's arms and his torso then sent out volts of electricity, shocking the spirit detective into near paralysis. Yusuke looked pretty beat up but Temashi was looking exhausted too and was covered in bruises and had a nasty wound on his back. Yusuke had just been shocked for the fifth time and he was getting frustrated. 'Dammit, how do I beat this guy?!' Temashi was frustrated too,'Why the hell aren't my attacks working?! One good shock usually does my opponent in!' Temashi grabbed his staff and sent out Volt Barrages at Yusuke but by summoning up his spirit energy, Yusuke blew them up in midair by using his shotgun. Temashi was getting desperate, he had to kill this boy now or never. Using his spirit energy he wielded his staff and sent out a wave of destructive electricity. Temashi's attack had caught Yusuke by surprise and hit him full blast. Yusuke let a shocked yell, fell on his back, and didn't move.   
  
Temashi breathed a sigh of relief and turned to leave to get medical treatment for his wounds. He whipped around when he heard a groan. Yusuke gingerly sat up and said,"Whew! I thought I was dead but good thing Genkai trained me in blocking powerful attacks." "YOU! Why won't you stay dead?!" Temashi roared, aggravated. He quickly grabbed his staff and flung it at Yusuke. The spirit detective quickly leapt to his feet and dodged the flying baton. He quickly prepared a spirit gun and aimed at Temashi. Temashi got ready to dart away but as Yusuke yelled,"Spirit Gun!", he quickly changed targets and fired the energy at the ice floor instead. Temashi quickly jumped back as the ice floor broke into small pieces and floated on top of the water underneath. As Yusuke had suspected, there was water underneath the ice and now everything in his plan to win was going to work. But Temashi wasn't quite finished yet, the ThunderSpark was still flying behind Yusuke and the spirit detective hastily tried to reached the block of ice the lightning warrior was standing on. Hoping desperately that this would work Yusuke waited 2 seconds and the tip of the ThunderSpark was 5 inches away from Yusuke when he suddenly dived underwater. He surfaced 5 seconds later and saw that his plan had work successfully.   
  
Backfiring on its owner, the ThunderSpark had locked Temashi into a tight grip and Yusuke quickly scrambled onto the block of ice Temashi was balancing on. Grinning, the spirit detective said,"Surprise!" and shoved Temashi, who was still unable to move because of his own weapon's clench, into the ice cold water. As soon as he hit the water Temashi yelped in pain. Yusuke, satisfied he won, replied,"Hurts, doesn't it? I never thought what Mr. Akashi (remember him? the idiot teacher who looks like a rabbit?) taught us would come in handy." Temashi was now seconds away from unconciousness and Yusuke didn't want to kill him so he dragged him out of the water and laid him again the wall. Temashi said just before passing out,"The stories are true, you really are great. By using my own weapon against me, you used water that conducts electricity to multiply the effect. I know why you are here. Princess Haritsuta is being held captive in the Akai Tower, the red one." Yusuke squatted down, asking him,"How do you know that?" Temashi shot Yusuke a sad, sheepish look. "I was the one who was ordered to lead her there. Good luck, spirit detective." And with that, Temashi lost conciousness, his head slumped against the icy wall. Yusuke saw that ThunderSpark had released him from the hold and was lying useless next to its owner. Yusuke turned and ran towards the door opposite from which he came. He had come into a room, that connected to all the other rooms as well. Yusuke leaned against the wall, then sat down to rest. He was very worn out and as he waited for the others to finish their battles he thought it ok to take a quick nap.  
  
  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*   
  
At the same time Yusuke was battling Temashi, the other 3 spirit detectives were also having technical difficulties. Hiei was having trouble trying to defeat Yunmatsu as quickly as he could because the warrior refused to be put down that easily. Hiei was also having trouble with the promise he had made to himself to start going easy on his newly repaired sword especially since Yunmatsu was very experienced with his own. The fire warrior's sword skills almost rivaled the fire demon's. Running at each other while deftly swinging their swords their blows matched and the fighters struck the other only to encounter a block. Hiei had caused damage to Yunmatsu while recieving some wounds himself. Yunmatsu had a deep abrasion in his left arm that started from the middle of his upper arm and reached just a little past his elbow, not to mention smaller cuts all over his body including one on his abdomen and many on his legs. Hiei possessed light gashes all over, none too serious. By using speed to his advantage Hiei had dodged most of Yunmatsu's strikes at the last second, but still recieved some not too serious wounds.  
  
Yunmatsu was exhausted and as he breathed heavily he thought 'Dammit, he's harder to kill than I thought!' Hiei was exhausted too but he never-the-less was enjoying this duel. He had fought against other people with swords but none of them were experted enough to defeat him. The swordsmen rushed at each other again, speed and skill playing a key factor in their attacks. Yunmatsu continued to swing his sword as Hiei blocked his slashes by swiftly clashing his katana against it. Sparks flew as the strain on Hiei's sword caused it to react with the warrior's fire blade. Suddenly it gave out. With a devastating hack Yunmatsu used a multi-strike technique to break the fire demon's companion. Hiei was left holding the hilt of his useless katana while the blade fell with a clang against the floor. Yunmatsu let out a laugh of victory,"Well, Hiei, the so known ruthless fire demon, what will you do now when in the end your sword proves worthless? Under the circumstances it seems as though I am triumphant." Hiei was furiously thinking of another way to win when out of the blue he was struck with a brilliant idea. "But what if I'm not finished yet?" Yunmatsu barked a laugh,"Don't fool yourself, the only way for you to regain a chance to win is to get another blade. But it seems like your blade is finished..... WHAT?!"Hiei was now holding another sword that looked stunningly like Yunmatsu's except that it had green flames and a different hilt. Funny thing was the hilt seemed so familiar......Yunmatsu gasped in shock. "Another sword, but how?" Hiei grinned in a devilish way.   
  
"That's.....the Sword of the Darkness Flame!" Hiei charged at the warrior, yelling,"Now let's finish this!" Their fencing resumed, only now there were sparks flying everywhere from the two fires', burning on the swords, clashes. Hiei hastily devised a plan to defeat Yunmatsu but he needed a distraction so he could quickly power up. Hiei gritted his teeth as he was brought back to reality by Yunmatsu cutting a deep gash in his side. He rapidly glanced around looking for something, anything at all, to distract Yunmatsu. It struck him like lightning, so obvious yet so simple! Shielding himself while hurriedly peering into his empty scabbard at his waist, Hiei was relieved to find that his answer was there. The jaganshi speedily yanked off the casing of his sword and thrusted the opening in Yunmatsu's face. Yunmatsu sputtered when water flew out of the scabbard and hit him full on in the face. Taking a step back, the delay in the warrior's action allowed Hiei to summon all his energy into his fist. Shouting, "Fist of the Mortal Flame!" Hiei stepped forward and landed his fist straight into his rival's stomach. Yunmatsu, stunned by the blow, caught the hit in full power. He shot backwards, smashed the wall in full force and fell off, landing on his front. As his vision began to blur, the overpowered fighter saw a pair of boots near his right hand. Yunmatsu chuckled weakly,"Water? How....?" Hiei answered without looking at him,"Your blizzard, a careless mistake. Some snow and ice must have gotten trapped in my scabbard when I drew my sword to kill your machine." Yunmatsu still more weakly said,"Well, at least now I can boast about how I was defeated by the ruthless Hiei...." Hiei stood up, picked up the pieces of his now twice broken katana and replied while walking out the opposite door,"I would prefer if you didn't." He heaved the door open and stepped out into the waiting room about 4 seconds after Yusuke had slumped down and fell asleep. Hiei just sat down against the wall, waiting.....waiting.....it seemed he was always just waiting......   
  
@@@@@@@ Intermission @@@@@@@  
  
^_^ Hey everyone if you need a break now's the time to use it! (If you don't need it just scroll down to where you see the *end of intermission* divider) So in this intermission we will break and talk about stuff. I have drawn pictures of the element warriors' weapons but sadly I don't have a scanner so I can't post them! :( Must get scanner! I am also currently working on the profile and pictures of the warriors so until I get a scanner I can't show the pictures on the web. Here are some facts about Yu Yu Hakusho not to mention my own fiction to keep you entertained. (A/N: You might know some of this stuff already!)  
  
  
  
Name Translations:  
  
*-Hiei's name in Japanese roughly translates to 'fire shadow'. (Perfectly fitting in my opinion.)  
  
*-Kurama's name roughly translates to 'warehouse horse'. (Don't ask, I just know what it means, not why it means that! ^^;)   
  
*-Yusuke Urameshi means ghost helper bay rice.  
  
*-Kazuma translated to peace and truth and kuwabara kuwabara means my god! (no it is not a typo, to say my god! you have to use two kuwabaras)  
  
*-Yukina is a bit of a mystery, technically the word 'Yukina' is not a real word, that is it doesn't have a dictionary meaning. But by breaking the words apart we get 'Yuki' which means 'snow' and 'na' which is short for 'onna' which means woman. So by a rough translation I would have to say Yukina somewhat means 'snow woman'.  
  
*Botan - ferry guide  
  
*Keiko Yukimura - Fortune child Snow village  
  
*Koenma - Little Enma  
  
*Suichi Minamino - Excellence first Southern field  
  
*Genkai - Grandma, Old woman  
  
I have also created a pronunciation key if you don't know how to say the names! (A/N: This is only for the warriors because I'm assuming you readers watch or read Yu Yu Hakusho!)   
  
Temashi - Tay-ma-shee  
  
Redajyu - Ray-da-ju  
  
Gouji - Go-jee  
  
Yunmatsu - Yun-ma-tsu  
  
Ok, I think that's enough intermission! (That was quite a short intermission....hehe ^^;) Back to our feature presentation ^__^  
  
$$$$$$$$ End of Intermission $$$$$$$  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Back in Redajyu's lair, Kurama was having a hard time dodging Redajyu's ax sickle; Redajyu was no amateur when it came to skills with his weapon and he knew that and was using it to his advantage. Kurama was quite injured while the warrior of earth was barely inflicted. But Kurama was not going to give up that easily; he had summoned his rose whip a while ago, but it was nearly impossible to get through Redajyu's defenses. Instead of trying to attack the warrior Kurama focused on getting the ax sickle away from its owner. He finally wrapped his whip around the ax part and successfully threw it far across the room away from him. Redajyu did not automatically try to get his weapon, but instead he treaded heavily on the ground and a crack in the floor formed, growing wider and wider like in an earthquake. This distracted Kurama and in that time Redajyu darted across the area and retrieved the Terra. Kurama clutched at his arm as the warrior wielded his weapon and gashed Kurama on the arm. Kurama let out a groan of agony and fustration. Once again Redajyu leaped towards Kurama to attack but the youko fox swiftly plucked a round, green seed from inside a thorn on his whip and threw it on the ground in front of him.   
  
Redajyu screeched to a halt 3 feet away from the seed as a deadly blue and purple plant escalated from the kernel. This turned the tables and now the warrior was fighting for his life. The plant was called a Darkness Chaos Plant that killed everything in its path, by stabbing the nearest enemy with its razor sharp leafs and if you didn't die straight away the fatal poison contained in the veins of the leaf would do the job painfully. If you managed to clung to life after all that torture then the Darkness Chaos Plant would devour you whole then spit out your remains. Not the right plant to upset. Kurama was thinking all that while Redajyu battled the deranged plant. Kurama let out a shocked gasp as the Darkness Chaos plant swallowed Redajyu whole. "That was fairly easy. Although I feel bad." Kurama nodded off a nagging, uneasy feeling and staggered towards the door. He suddenly heard repeats of the same sound, the sound of when a sharp blade bites into your flesh, and his bright emerald eyes caught sight of the Chaos plant shuddering. Without a warning the flora exploded from the inside out. Redajyu stepped out unharmed except for a deep slash on the side of his face, running from the base of his forehead down to the middle of his cheek. "Whoa, what a wonderfully secret surprise. A chaos plant, one of the rarest in the world, you have good taste, Kurama. Too bad your idea didn't work." Redajyu leered at the badly hurt Kurama. He unbrandished the Terra and proceeded to strike Kurama. Kurama once again unsheathed his rose whip while thinking,"Darn it, my Chaos Plant! I have to hold him off while I think of a plan!" Kurama leapt to his feet, teetering unsteadily.   
  
Summoning the Darkness Chaos plant combined with the attacks inflicted on him by Redajyu had drained Kurama's energy greatly. Never-the-less he shouted,"Rose Whirlwind!" and a defensive tornado of rose petals kicked up around him. Redajyu threw his ax towards the tornado in hopes of hitting Kurama but the rose whirlwind was more powerful than that and the ax was knocked away. Kurama moved inch by inch, trying to move towards the dead chaos plant unnoticed. Slowly but steadily moving towards the poisonous leaves on the floor generated by the now lifeless plant Kurama reached them and stepped on top of them so they were stirred in with the rose whirlwind. Redajyu planned for ways to attack Kurama but when he saw through Kurama's plan he let out a roar of anger and charged towards Kurama. Of course, this was what Kurama had been waiting for and he quickly stiffened to protect himself. That was unneccessary due to the fact that Redajyu had stopped straight in his tracks and then doubled over with pain. He was half paralyzed and was yelling,"Damn this shit, what is this?! My whole body burns like hellfire! Urgh!" Kurama was mystified because the poison leaves in his whirlwind storm hadn't even touched Redajyu yet. Looking for the problem Kurama's eyes wandered towards the warrior's face....."Oh! Of course!" The fox finally figured out the earth warrior's dilemma. He explained it to his baffled foe,"Your scar....on your face. The mark of the Darkness Chaos Plant...." "Impossible! I killed that thing a while ago!" Redajyu outbursted with disbelief and fury. Kurama nodded his head,"Yes, but when you were fighting it, it struck you with a leaf, leaving the bloody scar on your face and a trace of its poison." Redajyu glanced at Kurama with incredulity then looked away. "I will admit defeat this time, Youko Kurama, but when we meet again I shall battle you again....and I shall win! Now go." Kurama started to say,"But the poison....." "Go! I will survive." Redajyu dismissed his opponent. Youko fox stumbled towards the outleading door and when he got into the waiting room he saw that Hiei and Yusuke were both already there, Yusuke napping, Hiei looking bored and Kuwabara was limping out of the adjacent door. Kuwabara shot Kurama a victorious grin as the human went to wake up Yusuke and the fox went to help him.   
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*   
  
About 15 minutes ago, another waterfall of water pours down upon Kuwabara's head. He lost his grip on the wooden block he was clutching to and sank again, gurgling like he was drowning. He paddled again to the surface and yelled at the smiling widely Gouji, "Hey! That's not fair, you can make waterfalls and stuff with your staff and I can't even do anything like that! Come on, fight fist to fist like a real man!" Gouji chuckled amusingly."In the human world, it may be more manly to fight fist to fist as you say, but in Makai the rules change, human. In this reality the victor is the one using the best techniques or the cleverest tactics." Kuwabara scrambled quickly onto the nearest floating wood block, sticking his arms straight out to help him balance. Looking at Gouji, he was surprised to find giant blue orbs floating around him. Gouji grinned broadly and giving Kuwabara thumbs up, said,"Like 'em? They are kind of nice for decoration. I call them my bubble bombs!" The warrior looked at his bubble bombs fondly then sent them after Kuwabara. But, instead of going for the human, the globes went instead for the wooden block he was standing on. Kuwabara franatically leapt from his wooden block to the next in the nick of time as a bubble soared towards the block. When it touch the chunk the bubble exploded, sending water flying everywhere.   
  
This chase went on for a while until Gouji ran out of bubble bombs. Kuwabara panted as he tried to catch his breath and Gouji rubbed his head astonished. "Wow, not bad for a human!" Kuwabara transferred his energy to his hands as he yelled,"Spirit Daggers!" Two feet long dagger shaped extensions made out of orange spirit energy appeared in both of Kuwabara's hands and he chucked them like arrows at Gouji. The warrior of water simply waved his hand up and a safeguard of water rised up, shielding him from the knives. The daggers hit the shield and disappeared as if absorbed up by the wave. Kuwabara growled in aggravation, summoned his spirit sword and as the wave slowly descended back into the aquarium he caught Gouji in surprise when he came falling down. Gouji gasped and realized his mistake too late, he had not seen the human coming, for he was hidden by the shield of water, and Kuwabara's sword came down with a sickening *slash* as it pierced Gouji's shoulder. Gouji fell backward off the block of wood and landed in the water with a loud splash. As he was sinking slowly to the bottom Gouji furiously tried to swim to the surface, but unfortunately the arm punctured by the human's sword was dead and he had use of only one arm. Finally after 25 seconds of trying he finally reached the surface and breathed in the sweet air of life. Kuwabara was ready for his ascending however and struck Gouji as soon as he came up. (A cheat and cheap trick. No, Gouji!) He had prepared spirit daggers and when Gouji's head popped up from the water Kuwabara threw them at him. One punctured through his right arm, the other missed the warrior's head by inches. Now that both of Gouji's arms were rendered useless, it wasn't hard to tell who was the victor.  
  
Kuwabara brashly yelled,"Oh, yeah! Kuwabara has won another fight!" while punching his fist through air. Gouji just responded, "Feh, you used a cheap trick. By my standards you may have won but don't feel superior just because you won by using second rate tactics." Kuwabara helped Gouji up and left him lying against the wall. He walked out the door. Yes, his lungs may be overflowing with water because of all the times Gouji dunked him and he may have used a cheap trick but he still won. As he walked out the door, Kurama was also emerging from the next door, apparently successful in his fight. They grinned at each other, woke Yusuke up, ("I need my sleep, dammit!") and along with Hiei, went to save Kori.  
  
Author's Note: Whew! That was long! I reread this after I wrote it and my eyes hurt! I know, I'll do a poll! Vote if you want!  
  
1. I like long chapters with intermissions and breaks.  
  
2. I prefer long chapters, but no breaks, just story.  
  
3. Shorter chapters all the way!   
  
Ok, and I will maybe continue to write my story based on the results. Hmmmm, polls are fun! I might do another one in the next chapter too! But that might not be for a while, I am currently suffering from writer's block. Also, I am trying to draw the pictures from my fan fic on a photo and picture program but I am having technical difficulties, there's too much details and colors. It looks fine on paper but on the computer it's all blurry. :( Oh well, 'til next time, cyaz! 


	6. Mistaken Identity

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho but I own Kori, the 4 warriors introduced in the last chapter and a whole bunch of other people, I'm sure you will be able to tell them apart! ^__^  
  
*Hey, everyone! How did you like the last chapter? Personally it was my favorite chapter but that's just me! I would also like to thank reviewers and readers, you guys rock! A little info about this chapter: When I was brainstorming for ideas to write a fan fic about, I came up with the main storyline in this chapter. To tell you the truth I looked forward to writing this specific chapter for reasons unknown! ^_^ Odd? Just read on and find out! Remember to R/R please!  
  
*Now RekkaShinen1 presents*  
  
*******Chapter 6 - Mistaken Identity*******  
  
As the four spirit detectives proceeded to exit, pinkish purple gas started to fill up the room. "Knock out gas! Quick, hold your breaths!" Kurama clarified while slapping a hand over his mouth and his nose. The others, though hidden in the thick clouds of gas, imitated him and they all managed to quickly run out of the room. Outside the room in another hall, they all breathed deeply and turned to look at Yusuke for the next step.  
  
"Kori should be held captive in the Akai Tower, but I have no frickin' clue where we are!" Yusuke yelled, frustrated, as the group raced up another set of stairs. When they reached the landing and headed forward, all of them passed by a wide open window without a second glance. Kuwabara did a double take and ran back to look out the window.  
  
"Akai Tower?! That's it!" Kuwabara jumped up and down, pointing out the window. Indeed, the open window in the tower they were in was 10 feet adjacent to an open window in Akai Tower. The others came back at Kuwabara's call and peered out the window at a blood red-colored stone tower.   
  
"All right!" Yusuke punched his fist into his other hand. "Easy enough, now all we have to do is jump across! Hiei, you're the super leaper here. Do ya think you can reach it?" (Hee hee, Hiei the super leaper! Daa da da da!)  
  
"Hn" was Hiei's reply and he disappeared in a flash and reappeared again in Akai Tower's window.  
  
"Kurama....." Yusuke continued but the Youko fox had already clambered onto the window sill and had neatly bounded across the gap through the opposite window.   
  
"Ok, then.....Kuwabara, hurry up, would you?!" Kuwabara was nervously teetering on the window sill. He gulped loudly when he accidently looked down and wondered what would happen if he fell, scrambled Kuwabara, ick. Yusuke impatiently shoved his friend through the window with a "Go!" Kuwabara screamed,"AHHHH! Oh my god! I'm going to die! AHHHHH!" as he fell forward towards the Akai window.  
  
But instead of dying to a horribly painful death he landed right under the window sill, holding onto the extension with both hands for dear life. Kurama helped him up hurriedly while Yusuke made his jump across. "My guess is that the princess is being held captive at the top. Let's get going!" Kurama assured the others and the four set off again.  
  
After racing up 3 more sets of stairs and dashing through endless corridors, the spirit detectives finally bumped into a door that was padlocked on the outside. "I think she's in there." Kuwabara stated the obvious. Grinning, Yusuke asked,"Ok. Who would like to do the honors?"   
  
"I will..." Hiei stepped forward, smiling menacingly. He tightened his securely bandaged fist, as it started to glow with spirit energy. Yelling "Dragon's Strike of the Darkness Flame!", Hiei punched the lock and it shattered into dozens of pieces. He nodded and he and the others cautiously pulled the door open in case there were traps set up. Surprisingly, the coast was clear and as they carefully looked inside, they noticed a young girl that matched Koenma's description sitting inside. Her room was pitifully bare, containing only a bed, a desk, three chairs and a small assortment of her own personal items. She was leaning on a window ledge, gazing out the open window, longingly as she sighed heavily.   
  
"Excuse me, miss? Princess Kori?" Yusuke interrupted her as they all treaded inside the depressing room. At his voice, Kori spun around, looking horrified and clambered frantically onto the wide window sill.  
  
"Stay away! Or I'll jump, I swear!" Kori panickingly threatened. The spirit detectives were taken aback and not one took a step furthur. Kori was on the verge of tears. "Why are you after me?! Do you want my life that much?! I didn't do anything! Just leave our family alone!"  
  
"Miss Haritsuta, I don't know what you have told but you have been lied to." Yusuke calmly reassured the petrified girl. Kurama stepped forward and held out his hand, "Believe us, we are not here to kill you, we're here to rescue you.....if you'd just step down from the ledge we will explain everything." Kori shook her head violently,"I've heard all about you! The four assassins trying to hunt me down and execute me and my family!"   
  
Yusuke gently explained,"No, we'd swear on our lives we are trying to help you. We are spirit detectives sent from Koenma of the spirit world to come save you. You can trust us." Yusuke smiled a friendly grin. Kori was now calmed, sat down on the sill and said,"Fine, I will listen to your story. But I'm sitting on this ledge and if you try to attack me I will jump." Yusuke and the others nodded. He explained the whole story, about her parents, about the warriors and about their mission, purposely leaving out the part with Kori's brother. Kori listened intently, her eyes widening disbelievingly at Yusuke's words. "....and so that's why we have been sent here to save you, your parents are not who they seem like. And you probaly don't believe us now."   
  
Shockingly, Kori nodded her head."A few weeks ago, I was going to go check on my little brother when I ran into my parents. I explained to them where I was going and I didn't know it then but they headed me off. Then, I happen to overhear them talking to the elemental warriors and telling them to kill four trespassers, I just shook it off then but my parents came into my room one night, explaining that a group of assassins were coming for me and that for my safety I should reside in this lonely chamber at the top of a forbidden tower. On top of all of that I'm banned from having companions, my poor brother disappeared some time ago and I can't seem to locate him even though I've tried."   
  
The group were good listeners and Hiei, who had been straying in a dark corner, showed himself and pointed out,"Why didn't you just escape through the window? You were so intent on jumping through it." Kori, turning to look at Hiei, responded,"Because I didn't want to di..." and then stopped abruptly as soon as she caught a glimpse of the demon. She went into shock and then the others were stunned to find that her eyes had rapidly filled up with tears. She hastily jumped off the ledge, back into her room, and rushed at Hiei. She threw her arms around appalled Hiei's shoulders in a tight hug while her tears poured out. "Ryuki! Oh my god, Ryuki! Where have you been?! I was so worried about you!" Kori cried, her face streaked with her tears.  
  
Hiei was startled at first by this sudden outburst of emotion, but then he shook the princess's arms off him as he stepped back, apparently taken aback. Yusuke, Kurama and Kuwabara watched this with puzzled interest. "What do you think you're doing?!" Hiei inquired crossly as Kori looked up and studied Hiei through tear filled eyes. She gasped, while briskly wiping her tears away and apologized, looking embarassed. "I'm so sorry, I thought you were...no, you looked a lot like him. My missing brother......"  
  
The princess stood up and went to the desk to retrieve an item. When she returned she held a faded, slightly crumpled color photo. It was of herself and a guy who did indeed look like Hiei, only with no white band in his differently styled hair. Also, instead of Hiei's crimson red eyes, the boy in the picture had friendly turquoise eyes. Kori had her arm around her sibling and they were both grinning widely while holding up two fingers in a peace sign. Kori gazed at the picture both fondly and sadly. "We took this picture when Ryuki insisted we sneak off into the human world. We were very close, he was only 2 years younger than I, but he was a kind, gentle and funny child. I remember whenever I was feeling down, he'd always tried to cheer me up, doing everything in his power to make me laugh. He was the type of person who couldn't hurt a Makai fly, he would let them go. But he's gone....."  
  
Feeling sympathy for the tender hearted princess, the group confered about their actions. Finally they reached an agreement and Yusuke turned back to the young girl and said,"Ok, Princess. Pack your things, we're busting you out of here!" For the first time Kori beamed a genuinely happy smile. "Give me 2 minutes and I'll be ready. I really didn't like this room anyway, reminds me too much of a dungeon cell."  
  
Finally the group were ready to go but sneaking out was going to be harder than coming in. It was likely that the king and queen knew they were inside. Cautiously creeping down the hall, they exited Kori's prison room and had started down the first set of stairs when a loud booming alarm went off, emitting deafening sirens. Startled, the gang and the princess started bolting down the stairs and through various channels. Miraculously, they made it back to the waiting room from before, meeting only two demon henchmen along the way. Hiei had decked them both in the face and he highly doubted they would wake up soon. With Yusuke leading the way the team rushed through the door to Temashi's lair. The warrior was nowhere in sight and the detectives and princess continued to exit, through the entrance door to the lightning warrior's lair, through the dark channel with the thunderbolt enscripted on the wall and lastly through the crest shaped maze. Kurama and Hiei had both wondered how they were going to get out of Makai, seeing as they came here as orbs of energy, but the answer was waiting for them when they sprinted out of the labyrinth.   
  
Botan was waiting for them, floating in midair on her oar. A relieved smile broke out over her face when she saw the boys for the most part unharmed. As they rushed up to her demanding an explanation, Kori stepped out shyly from behind Hiei and glanced at the ferry girl. Botan beamed a gentle smile at the princess and she smiled in return. "All right, guys! And Princess Haritsuta." Botan quickly added. "Koenma has sent me to fetch you all and if you'll just hold onto this crystal ball here.....we'll be teleported automatically to Koenma's office." She held out a glittering sphere and the others crowded around her, touching one or two fingers on the orb. Suddenly Hiseken, its frosty blue sky, and its clouds of swirling snow and ice disappeared as the humans and demons not to mention the snow apparition and the ferry guide all materialized back in Koenma's paper pile stacked office.  
  
Koenma was hurriedly stamping papers on his desk with his trademark endorsement, skimming the requests. Koenma looked up when the team suddenly appeared in his room. "Good job, Yusuke, you have completed your mission. Now you guys can go."   
  
"But the princess....." Kurama started to reason, but the junior king shook his head while replying,"It's ok, I have arranged for Miss Haritsuta to stay with her distant cousin who lives in Tokyo." He pointed a remote at the large TV screen at the head of the room and all turned to face it. A girl with layered violet hair of about 20, dressed in a navy blue skirt and white blouse with a gray vest over it, was walking and laughing with a friend. "That is Koyuki Mashiko, she is also a snow apparition but living in the human world. You will reside with her, Princess, until we deal with this matter at hand with your parents."   
  
Kori shifted her gaze onto the young prince, asking,"Please, Koenma-sama! Have you seen my younger brother? Ryuki? Can you locate him on that screen?",pointing at the monitor. Koenma shook his head,"I'm sorry, Kori. This is not within my league....." The princess looked disappointed for a moment but then pretended to brighten up. "Oh well, that's ok! Can I meet my cousin?"   
  
Koenma was on the verge of telling Kori about her brother but then he quickly changed topics and said,"Yes, of course. Kurama, will you take her to Koyuki's house? It's Building 17, Apartment 5C in the Tsunami Star complex." Kurama nodded, gestured to Kori to follow him and walked out the double doors. Turning back to the others, Koenma assured them,"We can't do anything about Ryuki, you all can go home, I'll call if I need you." The others also left, Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Botan returning to Yusuke's house and Hiei leaving for Kurama's. Back at Yusuke's place the 2 humans and the ferrygirl discussed Kori's misfortunes. Hiei, arriving at Kurama's house, did not walk in the house but instead retreated to the backyard where he sat on a tree branch, hidden and thinking.   
  
After bringing Kori to Koyuki's residence and explaining everything to her Kurama went back to his house for slumber. Koyuki was very generous, taking the princess in gladly, befriending her and joking about how tomorrow they were going mega shopping for Kori's needs, hence clothes, shoes, more food, and entertainment. Weary from their journey, every spirit detective eventually fell asleep or was taking a quick nap.  
  
Author's Note: Ok, that was kind of short compared to last chapter but oh well. I am also in the process of drawing portraits of Koyuki, Kori and Ryuki. It's kind of difficult but it's fun. Lastly I am coming out with InuYasha and Fushigi Yugi fan fics soon. Please check them out when they're out and tell me what you think! I just posted the Fushigi Yugi one today! Ok, that's all! See you next chapter! 


	7. Minimizing Down

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho but I do own Kori and the other people not in the Yu Yu Hakusho story.  
  
*Hi, people! Sorry I haven't updated in so long....you know the usual, school, homework, activites and such. Well, we've reached the peak of this story! Thanks to reviewers and readers! Let's not delay any furthur....now the long awaited chapter that is the reason for existence of this story!  
  
*Now RekkaShinen1 presents*  
  
*******Chapter 7 - Minimizing Down*******  
  
The early sun peeked through the window of Yusuke's bedroom, casting faint sunlight over the spirit detective. Yusuke stirred in his sleep then turned over, away from the sun's bright radiance. After 15 minutes, he awoke. Sitting on his bed, Yusuke yawned widely while rubbing his sleep blurried eyes. He got out of bed, jumped down onto the floor and ran over to the chair he had his clothes on. Reaching up for his T-shirt, he pulled on the green material until it fell into his hands. He hurriedly pulled it over his head and went to get his shoes on. Pulling on his black sneakers, Yusuke was bewildered to find out they were much too big on him. He then also realized his green shirt was much bigger too, it ballooned down and over his knees. The confused spirit detective ran to his door and looked at the mirror that was hung on behind it. He was now only 3 and 1/2 feet tall...... "AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"  
  
********************  
  
Kurama had fallen asleep when he only meant to take a slight nap, obviously he was more tired than he thought. Kurama threw off his coverlet and automatically realized something was wrong. Not only was the bed much bigger than he normally viewed it but everything was out of proportion, they appeared 2x bigger than they were suppose to be. Kurama leaped on his desk chair, pulled open a drawer and whipped out a tape measure. He measured his height and discovered he was only 3'7. Stunned, he thought,'Oh, god....I'm 7 years old again.....'   
  
********************  
  
Kuwabara yawned hugely and with a thud, he had fallen off his bed onto the floor. 'Hey, what the......?' He had just noticed he was only a little taller than the bed. "EEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!" He screamed in a high pitch.  
  
********************  
  
His back stiffening uncomfortably from lying on a tree branch the whole night, Hiei sat up and stretched. His katana slipped out of his grasp and he grabbed at it frantically. He caught it by the bandages, which were wrapped around the scabbard and hauled it up back onto the tree branch. Hiei hugged his sword to his torso but it began to slip again. He realized he was about the same size as his blade, save for a couple of inches. "Damn, what's going on?!" He swiftly stood up and, grasping his sword with both hands, began leaping from tree to tree to go find Kurama.   
  
Hiei finally reached Kurama's house, where he met the kitsune sneaking out his window. Scampering across the roof and performing a neatly executed jump, Kurama landed on the ground and gestured for Hiei to follow him. The jaganshi looked at his companion questioningly as to why he would sneak off. Kurama smiled, "My mother would have a field day if she saw me like this. I can't exactly walk out the front door." Then the two demons took off for Koenma's.  
  
********************  
  
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?! I'M A......I'M A MIDGET!!!!" Yusuke furiously yelled, banging his fists on Koenma's desk. The group had arrived at the office where they were seated on high stools like Koenma. The prince of hell calmly replied,"Quiet down, Yusuke! We will find a solution to this. Ogre! Do we have a tape of Yusuke's last mission?" An orange ogre standing in the room nodded and went to retrieve the tape. He came back in a couple of minutes, holding a boxed tape and handed it to Koenma. Koenma slipped the tape out of the box and hurriedly shoved the tape into his VCR-like device. The spirit detectives watched as they ran through the maze, defeated the element warriors, met up with the others again, got knock out gas sprayed on them......  
  
Koenma started in recognization. He paused the video and pointed at the screen. "There's your problem! Ogre, get a sample of that knock out gas!" The ogre obediently compiled and returned with a vile of pinkish smoke-like substance. Koenma held it up for the others to see, explaining,"This is not just ordinary knock out gas. It contains remnants of a potion called nitsuku, a shrinking solution. Since the doses of nitsuku in the gas was small, the effects were not called on until this early morning."   
  
Suddenly the door of the office slid open and Botan along with 2 other girls walked in. The spirit detectives recognized the taller of the two girls was Koyuki. The additional girl was about the same size as Yusuke and the others were startled to find that it was Kori. Kori was confused about her odd shrinking and Koenma had to explain it all over again. Botan interrupted in with,"I was scouting the city for Yusuke because I heard reports of a mysterious fiend attacking a nearby city when I ran into these two girls. They asked for my assistance and I thought it would've been wise to come here."   
  
Kurama looked thoughtful for a moment. "When we were returning back to the room, we had Kori with us. She must've gotten a dose of the potion from the remains of it from when we passed through the waiting room the second time."   
  
Koenma was deep in thought. "A mysterious fiend, you say, Botan? Yusuke, it might be for the best that you go check this out while we work on a remedy to reverse the effects. We have no choice, this 'fiend' could be dangerous."  
  
Yusuke rolled his eyes,"I don't get a day off from work, even when I become undersized. Ah, that's life! Let's go, guys." Kuwabara looked very nervous about going on a mission when they were super small but Kurama and Hiei shrugged and stood up. The whole gang darted out the door. After they left, Botan let out a suppressed chuckle. "Heehee, they're all so adorable when they're little kids! I wonder what happened?" Koenma shook his head and laughed,"Growing up, I guess."  
  
********************  
  
In another part of the city, Yusuke shot a spirit gun at the 'mysterious fiend' which turned out to be an escaped demon from the Makai. From one so small, a regular sized beam of spirit energy blasted out from Yusuke's finger and he looked at it, amazed. "I guess size don't change amount of power you got." Hiei and Kurama quickly finished off the demon by slashing it into bits with their weapons. "Woo hoo! Another demon done in by the amazingly powerful detectives, yeah!" Kuwabara punched his fist into the air.   
  
"Oh, shut up, Kuwabara. You didn't do anything, you just ran and hid when the demon roared at you!" Yusuke laughed, teasing his friend. "You shut up, Urameshi! I did so do something!" Kuwabara retaliated. Yusuke shrugged. "Whatever....."  
  
"Let's call it a day, shall we?" Kurama asked. Hiei had already turned to leave and the others followed. Yusuke and Kuwabara went back again to Yusuke's place while Kurama left for his own house. But Hiei was a different story, instead of resigning back to Kurama's tree, he escaped through a portal back into the apparition world.  
  
********************  
  
A figure in black observed as a young sea green haired girl nursed an injured bird. "There, I'm finished. Does that feel better?" The girl asked the bird while gently bandaging its wing. The bird gave a chirp of happiness and the girl smiled fondly at it. Three other critters that were gathered around her nudged her.   
  
"Oh!" The maiden clasped a hand to her mouth. "It's getting cold. We should go." She gathered all the animals into her arms and walked away. Hiei breathed a sigh of relief after the girl left. "Yukina......she's okay......" He then turned and vanished.  
  
********************  
  
"Mother! Mother, are you home?" Kurama shouted as he moved through the house. He shuffled into the kitchen where he found a note on the table. 'Shuichi, gone out grocery shopping. Be back by dinner. ~Mom' read the note. Kurama dropped the note back on the table and sighed, thinking,"Mother....." He was obviously worried about her condition. Even though the Forlorn Hope had healed her sickness, Kurama worried that symptoms might suddenly rush back.  
  
He walked into his room and finished some work for school. After, Kurama studied for a while then went to find Hiei, who had still not returned. The youko had just walked out the front door when he heard rustling noises in his backyard. 'That must be Hiei......' Turning around again, he proceeded into his yard, where he found Hiei sitting on a tree branch in deep thought. Having some difficultly reaching the tree branch because of his shrunken height, Kurama managed to get to the tree limb. He plunked down beside Hiei and asked,"Hiei, what's wrong?" The smaller demon hugged his katana closer and replied blandly,"Nothing....."  
  
"Is this about Yukina?" Kurama looked questioningly at Hiei.  
  
"Hn...." came the reply.  
  
"You know, Hiei, she will find out sooner or later. I suspect she would like to hear it coming from you than anyone else...."  
  
Hiei turned away. Kurama looked towards the sun, now setting and creating a beautiful red orange background. "It's getting dark. Mother's coming home soon....." He gave Hiei a sympathetic glance then jumped off the tree, landing smartly. Hiei watched the lights go on in the house. He then looked in the same direction Kurama did 20 seconds ago, at the fiery sunset.  
  
********************  
  
An hour later, Kurama had already finished dinner and was pacing in the kitchen rapidly. It was dark and his mother still hadn't returned. 'What if something has happened to her?!' Kurama thought, suddenly very nervous. 'But in my current state, I can't go look for her! It would be odd if a 8 year child is out on the streets alone! Damn, why did the potion have to go into effect now?! Oh well! I don't have a choice! I'll ask Hiei to help!'   
  
The frantic Kurama rushed to the back door and threw it open. "Hiei! Hiei! Help!" Hiei literally materialized in front of Kurama. "What is it?!" Hiei appeared concerned.  
  
"My mother! She's not back yet, will you help me search for her? I'm worried but in my present condition I can't do much. Help me look for her?" Kurama pleaded Hiei. Startled, Hiei responded,"Let's get started."  
  
Kurama felt relieved for having such a loyal friend and nodded to Hiei. The two set off into the city.  
  
********************  
  
"Come on! Come on! One more hit!!!" Yusuke furiously pressed the buttons on his controller as the character on the TV screen yelled a war cry and slashed his enemy through the stomach. "YES!!!! I win!!!" A giant PLAYER 1 WINS sign flashed across the screen as Yusuke threw his arms up in a triumphant stance.   
  
"NOOOOOO!!!" Kuwabara banged his fists on Yusuke's room's floor. His head shot up as he yelled,"Urameshi! I want a rematch!"   
  
"That was the 5th time I beat you! You got no chance, Kuwabara!" Yusuke grinned widely.  
  
"That's because....because I have small hands! You had bigger hands than I did when I was little! Yeah! I want a rematch!" Kuwabara pointed at Yusuke. "I'm going to pound your character into the floor this time!"  
  
Yusuke sighed and leaned back. Suddenly he jolted forward. "Kuwabara! Do you feel it? This weird energy?"  
  
"Yeah, it's kinda creepy......" Kuwabara shivered.  
  
Yusuke nodded to Kuwabara. "We should check it out....it feels close......" The boys put away their game station and promptly ran out through the front door. Atsuko, still in the kitchen, was not aware that her son and his friend exited out the door.   
  
********************  
  
Kurama ran through the street, yelling breathlessly,"Mother! Mother, where are you?! Mother!" Other passerbys stared rudely at the oddness of a child darting through the streets, followed by another dressed all in black and carrying a sword. Hiei walked 5 paces behind his youko companion and sighed. "Kurama, you fool....you're making a hectic scene and plus you'd have a better chance making Kuwabara's brain work than finding your mother that way......"  
  
Kurama turned back for a second. "Do you have a better idea, Hiei?" Hiei reached up to his forehead and proceeded to pull off his bandana. Kurama gestured violently to all the people crowding around and snapped,"Not here!" Hiei stared at him, thinking 'Well, this is unusual. Kurama snapped.....always calm Kurama is being taken over by his panic....." Hiei sighed again. To his frantic friend, he said,"Come on....." Kurama followed Hiei behind a store where they both leapt onto the rooftop, using the window ledges.   
  
Hiei pulled off his bandana, letting his now glowing Jagan show. He closed his eyes and concentrated, first checking to see if Shiori Minamino had been taken to Makai. The results turned up negative. Focusing again now on the human world, Hiei finally locked onto her location. "She's 6 blocks away, being held captive in a warehouse. But I can't tell who has kidnapped her, it must a skilled demon who can blur and block mind transmission......"  
  
Kurama began racing across the rooftops, Hiei close behind. "Should we get Yusuke and Kuwabara to help?" Kurama, calm again asked. Hiei looked in disbelief at Kurama, stating sarcastically,"Yes, we do need the humans around to help because we can't do this all by ourselves. We can handle it."  
  
Finally they reached the warehouse. But as they got to the front, the 2 demons were shocked to find Yusuke and Kuwabara standing there already, arguing loudly. "No! I still say we bust in the front door and kick their asses head on!" Yusuke shouted at his friend.   
  
"But what if they're ready for us?! With ray guns and everything?!" Kuwabara looked more scared than excited.  
  
Kurama chuckled and the two human detectives spun around. "They're demons, Kuwabara, not aliens!" Suddenly he turned serious. "But they're holding my mother captive, we must save her."  
  
Yusuke cracked his knuckles. "Let's do it....." The four spirit detectives shoved open the wide doors and walked inside the dark warehouse cautiously. "Youko, is this what you're looking for?" asked a raspy voice coming from the front of the room. The doors shut all by themselves as the lights suddenly clicked on. The whole group winced as brightness hit them full on in the face. As they adjusted to the sudden lighting quickly, a muffled yell was heard.   
  
Kurama glanced towards the direction where the raspy voice came from. The sight shocked him. An ugly, warted purple demon was gripping his mother, Shiori, who was bound and gagged. Her eyes were filled with tears and Kurama gasped as he saw that she sported black and purple bruises all over her arms, legs and face. "Mother?! Get your filthy hands off her!" Kurama yelled, full of fury at what they did to her.   
  
Shiori was relieved to see that her son had been unharmed. Her unshed crystal clear tears began streaming down her face as she cried out, her voice muffled by the gag,"Shuuichi!"   
  
Kurama sprinted forward as fast as he could towards his mother, ignoring everything else. "Mother!"   
  
Author's Note: There you go, your chapter seven brought to you by fanfiction.net and by RekkaShinen1! Hoped you enjoyed that chapter! I would appreciate it if you reviewed too! Thanks a lot! 


	8. Mother's Love

Disclaimer: I own Kori; otherwise this brilliant piece of art belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi. ^_^  
  
*Konichiwa! I just posted both Chapter 2's of my Fushigi Yugi fic and my InuYasha fic. (Check them out if you got time?) Anywayz, today's topic of discussion is the anime of YYH. The finals of the dark tournament episodes are finally out but....cartoon network's being a jackass and only playing one episode a week. So it will take approximately a year to get to the new episodes. (God damn it!) Well, if you're willing to spend about $25 for 2 episodes, you could buy them on DVD. (Sure, let's all buy it! ^_^') Ok, let's move on, shall we? Chapter 8, here we go!   
  
**To Pegacorn  
  
It would be so cute to see them as little kids. Unfortunately, the only pictures I know that are close enough to the kid form are the chibi pics. I have a couple, if you wanna leave your email address, I'll email you them?   
  
~Everyone who wants cute chibi pics, email me at XFinalFantasyX@msn.com! I'll email you all back! (Subject: YYH Chibi Pix) (A/N: To friends who are reading this: XFinalFantasyX@msn.com is only for fan fic related emails, k?)   
  
*Now RekkaShinen1 presents*  
  
*******Chapter 8 - Mother's Love*******  
  
"Kurama! Watch out!" Kurama heard Yusuke shout from somewhere behind him. He suddenly felt another demon grabbing his arms and heard a raspy voice saying,"Not so fast, Youko....Arghhh!" With lightning fast reflexes, Kurama had elbowed the demon in the face then finished him off by kicking him in the stomach. The disgusting demon exploded into a cloud of dust. Turning back to save his mother, Kurama could hear the others rushing forward to assist him.  
  
All around the warehouse, other demons, who all look exactly like the first, rose from their places to hold off the detectives. They all charged towards Kurama and suddenly, a fight erupted. Fists flew as Yusuke and Kuwabara pummeled the nearest demons.  
  
Feeling grateful to his friends, Kurama continued forward. He glanced at the ground and noticed a shadow growing bigger and bigger. He looked up and realized a demon had launched itself into the air, preparing for an aerial attack. It never happened though, seeing as the demon landed hard on Hiei's sword and disintegrated. Hiei had drawn his blade and stood behind Kurama, smirking at the surprised fox. Kurama smirked back then darted ahead again. With Hiei close behind covering his back, Kurama finally managed to get to his imprisoned mother. "Mother!"  
  
"If you want this pathetic human back, you must defeat me first." The head demon cut in front of the trembling Shiori and prepared to fight. Kurama glared fiercely at the demon and drew his rose. "Rose whip!" The thorny rose transformed into the emerald whip. Behind the demon, Shiori's eyes widened. 'Shuuichi...?'  
  
"You'll pay for what you did to my mother!" Kurama lashed the whip out at the demon, who blocked the attack with his arms.  
  
"Damn, Ugly's tough if he can block Kurama's whip!" Yusuke and Kuwabara appeared next to Hiei and the surprised demon stepped back. He looked around, noting the once demon-filled warehouse was pitifully empty and there was an excessive amount of dust on the floors. But Hiei's attention shifted back to the fight as Kurama let out a cry. The demon had cut 3 deep wounds into Kurama's shoulder with his claws.   
  
"Kurama!" Yusuke was about to help the injured fox but Hiei threw out an arm and held him back. "Hiei, what're you....?"  
  
"Don't you think Kurama could handle this? This is his fight...." Hiei explained. Yusuke hesitated and then resumed watching the fight. Deep down, Yusuke knew Hiei was right; this was Kurama's fight. But that reasoning still didn't stop his doubts.   
  
When the demon cut Kurama, he didn't yell from the pain; he yelled because he was startled from the attack. 'I shouldn't have yelled....I mustn't let the others get involved in this....! Ugh, rose whip is not working....time to find another strategy....' Kurama quickly put aside the rose whip.   
  
"What is he doing?!" Kuwabara screamed. But Kurama was swift, even without his rose whip he avoided the demon's blows.   
  
"Time to finish this!" Kurama extracted a seed from his pocket and timed his accuracy. The demon leaped towards Kurama, yelling, "It's over, Youko!" Not quite. Kurama threw the seed into the demon's wide open mouth. The monster choked on the seed, then swallowed it by accident.   
  
"You....!" The demon never finished the sentence because there was a terrific explosion followed by the spraying of demon blood and guts all over the vicinity. Kurama sighed, ignoring the nagging feeling that just wouldn't go away and walked up the platform to his terrified mother. "Mother? It's okay....it's over...." He untied her restraints and pulled the gag out of her mouth.   
  
"Shu....Shuuichi?" Shiori whispered.   
  
"Yes, mother, it's me...." Kurama helped her to her feet. Shiori threw her arms around Kurama and hugged her son. "Shuuichi!"   
  
"Are you okay? Did they hurt you?" Kurama asked.   
  
"No, no, I'm fine...." Shiori replied. "But you shouldn't worry about me....be concerned....for your own life!"   
  
"Mother....?" Kurama pulled back, but it was too late. He felt razor sharp claws digging into his body as Shiori thrusted her nails into Kurama's back. Kurama cried out, coughing up blood.   
  
"What the....?!" Yusuke, Kuwabara and Hiei all sprinted forward at the same time. Shiori threw the injured Kurama to the floor and shot 3 giant blasts of spirit energy from her palm at the others. Kuwabara got hit by the first one and Hiei and Yusuke managed to dodge all but the third. The guys flew backward, hitting the warehouse wall and making the entire warehouse shake like an earthquake.   
  
"Mot....Mother....? What's happened to you....?" Kurama stammered from his position on the ground, sputtering up yet more blood. He felt his body paralyzing up, 'There must have been some poison in her nails....!'   
  
"Ha ha haaaa! Don't you know, Shuuichi?" Shiori bent down and dragged Kurama's head off the ground by his crimson hair.   
  
"Urghhhh...." Kurama groaned.   
  
"What's the matter, son? Does that hurt?" Shiori retorted with mock concern.   
  
"You....!" Kurama stuttered. "Where is my real mother?"   
  
"I wouldn't tell you even if you really were my son....Youko...." The fake Shiori shifted into a red demon with long red hair.(A/N: This demon looks a lot like Kuronue, Kurama's old partner, except in all red and currently not a crow demon.) Apparently he had been role playing as Kurama's mother. "This is only revenge, fox! I would kill you right here but where would the fun be in that? Torturing and watching you suffer is even better!"   
  
"Re....revenge....for what?" Kurama asked weakly, spitting up more blood.   
  
"You'll see soon....but for now....arghhhh! You bastard!" The demon screamed. Kurama looked up then grimaced from the pain emitting from his wounds. He could faintly make out a dark figure, stabbing the demon with a pointy object.   
  
The demon vanished in a flash, his last words ringing in Kurama's head. "I will be back....then my revenge will be complete. You will soon feel the bite of Akumo!" His head pounding, Kurama collapsed into a heap on the floor.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Doctor Iyasu, report to room 360. Doctor Iyasu, room 360...."   
  
Kurama heard these faint sounds echoing in his throbbing mind. His mind was awake before his eyes. 'Where am I...?' He wondered groggily, cracking an emerald eye open.   
  
"Kurama?! You're awake!" A relieved Yusuke yelled. Kurama looked around the room unsteadily. He was lying in a room with ugly green wallpaper and several chairs straying around the solitude bed. On the 2 chairs to his left sat Yusuke and Kuwabara; on his right side, Hiei stood quietly.   
  
"Ugh....what happened?" Kurama asked thickly.   
  
"You passed out after.....after that demon stabbed you with his claws. The doctor confirmed that you were poisoned, too...." Yusuke explained uneasily. All the memories of last night came back to Kurama with a jolt. He sat straight up in bed.  
  
"My mother?! Where is she?! Where's my mother?!" Kurama practically yelled.   
  
"Kurama....! Shhhh....! We're in a frickin' hospital!" Yusuke grew solemn. "Don't you remember? Your mother was never there....it was demon in disguise....?"  
  
Kurama slinked back down under the covers and pulled them over his head. "Could...you guys leave me alone for a while?"   
  
"Sure, Kurama....let's go, guys." Yusuke gestured to the other 2 and they left.   
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
After leaving the hospital, Yusuke and Kuwabara discussed ways to help Kurama.   
  
"No! We should find his mother and kick demon ass!" Yusuke threw his arms up in frustration.  
  
"Dammit, Kuwabara! This is Kurama's fight!"   
  
"Hn, will you two shut up?!" Hiei practically yelled in their faces. They did as they were told.   
  
Unknown by the three however, they were being watched. A woman, dressed in elegant garb and a veil covering her face, waved her arms around the glowing orb. The image of the 3 boys changed to one of mini-Kurama, laying distressed in the hospital bed. The lady's lush red lips curled up into a menacing smirk.   
  
"Urami....I have done as you wish..." Akumo materialized from the shadows.  
  
"Very well, Akumo....we shall test these detectives again...." Urami whispered in a deadly tone.   
  
-Who is this Urami? What tests are she and Akumo talking about? And will our favorite detectives ever grow back to their normal size? You'll only find out in the next chapter of Lil' Detectives!   
  
*Author's Note: Happy Halloween, all! I had made plans with friends, but one backed out and ditched me at the last moment. Some friend! So I'm here at home, handing out candy while continuing to write more chapters! ;_; It's not that bad writing....it's just Halloween, ya know? Sorry on getting all depressed on you, please review and enjoy this Halloween! Hope you get lotsa candy, you deserve it ^_~ I luv reviews! Reviewers rock! See ya! 


	9. Enter Urami

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho....*sob* Ok I'm done....^_^  
  
*Hey people! Yesterday, I just posted the first chapter of my new YYH fic....it's about the main character's pasts. Today's chapter kinda ties in with that story so check it out if ya got time? It's called The Haunting Past and the first chapter deals with Hiei's past. Ok, please enjoy and review! (And keep in mind, the 4 detectives and Kori are still in little kid form.)  
  
**Chibi Pix still available! Email me at XFinalFantasyX@msn.com if you want 'em! (Subject: YYH Chibi Pix)  
  
*Now RekkaShinen1 presents*  
  
*******Chapter 9 - Enter Urami*******  
  
"Yeah...he said his name was Akumo or whatever...." Yusuke explained. Koenma frowned as he sat in his chair, surrounded by piles of never ending paperwork.  
  
"Hmm, Akumo...? That name does sound familiar...Ogre! Research about the demon, Akumo!" Koenma commanded, sending away the blue ogre. Minutes later, the ogre returned, carrying a stack of thick volumes. Koenma grabbed the top one and started flipping through it. "Nope! Not in here!" The toddler exclaimed, chucking the book over his shoulder. Yusuke looked exasperated as he dodged the flying volume then smacked Koenma on the head.   
  
"Ahhh! Damn it, you little freak! You almost killed me there!" A large bump came up on Koenma's head.   
  
"Yusuke! What'd you do that for?!" Koenma yelled in his little boy voice. The spirit detective pointed at the junior ruler of hell.   
  
"YOU almost hit me in the face with that stupid thing!"   
  
"Well, you don't need to get so....."  
  
"Whatever, whatever! Did you find this guy yet?"  
  
"Yeah...Akumo....a wanted demon by the Reikai. A spider demon with the ability to shapeshift into others, demon or human, upon sight. Special technique is spirit web blast. Wanted for...." Here Koenma paused abruptly.  
  
"Well?!" Yusuke demanded, raising an eyebrow.  
  
"...Akumo is wanted for stealing items and kidnapping and killing the prince of Hiseken...." Yusuke's mouth dropped open. Koenma continued,"...namely Kori's brother, Ryuki..."  
  
"Whoa, wait a minute....when we were first assigned to rescue Princess, didn't you say the king and queen snuck him out during the night?" Yusuke asked, obviously confused.  
  
"Yes, I did but these books don't lie...." Koenma was also just as baffled. "And I did say the parents probably paid criminals to do it but more investigating revealed that Ryuki did not freeze to death. He was stabbed beforehand then iced up. What really confuses me is that there were fingerprints left on the handle of the knife, the fingerprints were the queen's."  
  
"We've really got a Sherlock case this time...." Yusuke muttered. (A/N: Sherlock? You know, Sherlock Holmes? Ok....)  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Hiei dashed hurriedly into Kurama's room in the hospital and hid behind the door. Kurama, who had been standing near the window trying to peer out, looked up, amazed, as a whole group of people passed by yelling "Damn it! That little guy's fast!" "He couldn't have gone far!" "Let's split up!"   
  
As soon as the bunch left, Hiei peeked cautiously out the door then shut it. He breathed a sigh of relief. Kurama chuckled; he was wearing his usual clothes again. "What happened, Hiei? Did you attack the receptionist?" The fox had meant it as joke. But....  
  
"Close to it...." Hiei plopped down on the neat bed. "The bitch wouldn't let me go in."  
  
"You know, Hiei...." Kurama started.  
  
But the jaganshi interrupted him. "She even threatened to have me arrested! Feh, treated like a....like a ningen!"  
  
"Eh, just to let you know...." Kurama began again.   
  
"So to teach the idiot I pulled my katana on her just to warn her. Suddenly, a swarm of humans come out of nowhere and start chasing me....! Obviously, I didn't want to start a scene...."   
  
"Hiei? What I'm trying to say here is...."   
  
"Can you believe it?! I had to run! Me! A demon! Running from humans....!"  
  
"HIEI!!!" Kurama screamed. Hiei nearly fell over; Kurama almost never yells. A smile came back on the kitsune's face. "All you had to do was sign in...." Hiei almost collapsed again.   
  
"Sign in...?" He asked. Kurama nodded, an amused grin showing on his face.   
  
"Yeah, see....when you want to visit someone, you walk up to the receptionist and she gestures to a piece of paper. You write your name, room you're visiting and information like that on it..."  
  
"Damn it!!!" Hiei screamed. "And I caused the uproar for nothing...!"  
  
"It happens...." Kurama chuckled.   
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Urami watched as Kurama reassured Hiei, smiling the whole time. Akumo came into the dark, perfumed room, throwing open the flap that hung over the doorway. "Urami! Ready to go?" The lady stood up, the bottom of her white dress brushing the shiny floor.   
  
"Yes....let's...." She whispered, picking up her glowing orb; the two exited the room. They were in an elegant but deserted manor; it looked like it had abandoned a long time ago. Akumo picked his way through the many halls, Urami following him, finally stopping at a door. He and the woman entered it and immediately, Urami began making a motion like she was ripping the air in front of her.   
  
Suddenly, a multi-colored hole appeared in midair; Akumo leapt into the portal, pulling Urami after him and then....the two were gone. The portal closed on its own, giving no evidence that it was ever there.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Yukina let out a squeal of delight as a fluffy brown fox jumped into her lap. The girl sighed. 'It's so hard trying to find my brother.... who knew that there was so much demons in this world....?' Two birds near her chirped worriedly; they could sense she was feeling sad.   
  
Yukina smiled again. "It's okay....I'm just have difficulty finding someone...." The birds chirped again as if they were trying to cheer her up. She was back in the ice apparitions' land, resting before setting off again on her quest. A few glittering white snowflakes fell from the sky, joining the sheet of snow that covered the entire land. "Oh...it's going to snow again....let's go find shelter?"   
  
The young girl stood up and hoisted up the fluffy fox in her arms. The birds rose up and flew near her as she headed off. Suddenly, she saw smoke. 'A fire! Oh, there must be shelter there!' Yukina thought excitedly, walking as fast as she could towards the smoke. She emerged into a clearing where snow was unseen on the ground and three structures made out of sparkling ice existed. Naive as she was, Yukina walked directly towards the icy buildings and felt a sudden rush of warmth roll over her.   
  
"This is odd...this area seems to be surrounded by a barrier...." Yukina whispered to her foxy friend in her arms. It purred in reply. She walked past the doorway of the nearest construction and a feminine voice demanded sharply, "Who's there?!"   
  
Yukina winced. "It's....um...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to intrude...." A lovely young lady dashed out the doorway; she didn't look like an ice apparition. The lady screeched to a halt in front of Yukina. The ice apparition was awed as she stared up into the beautiful face of this new arrival.   
  
"Who are you, little girl?" The woman's voice soften noticeably as though she only realized it was a young girl. Yukina looked at her own blue shoes as she stuttered,"I'm...I'm sorry...I didn't mean to trespass..." The lady smiled gently and bent down so she was at the same level as Yukina.   
  
"It's ok, dear. Do you need a place to stay for the night? I'm Urami....and what's your name?" The lady's radiant smile grew bigger.  
  
"Yu...Yukina, ma'am." Yukina said politely. Urami waved her hand absentmindedly.  
  
"There's no need to call me ma'am, Yukina-chan."   
  
"Ha...Hai..." Yukina nodded her head.   
  
"Now let's get you set up for the night, now shall we?" Urami led the young girl to one of the icy structures. "This was normally used for my office but you may sleep here." Urami opened the icy door and let Yukina walk in and survey the room. Yukina couldn't help but touch the shiny walls, the sparkling table, the glittering chairs. She was surprised to find that even though they look like they were made of ice, the material was actually not cold at all.   
  
"Your bed's over there..." Urami pointed to the corner where a warm bed, complete with comfy pillow and fluffy blanket adorned with snowflakes, sat. Yukina bowed and said thanks many times.   
  
"You're very welcome, Yukina-chan...if you need anything, just call my name ok?" Urami began walking out the door.  
  
"Hai, Urami-san. But may I ask you one thing?" Yukina took a seat on the bed and folded her hands in her lap. Urami nodded. "Why are you all alone out here....in this ice apparition land?" Urami appeared thoughtful for a moment then looked Yukina directly in the eye.   
  
"I'm not alone." She responded. "My partner is with me and we're here to....search for something....or rather someone...."  
  
Yukina swiftly stood up. "You too, Urami-san? I am also looking for someone....might you know him?"   
  
"Who is it you are looking for, Yukina?"  
  
"My brother....my long lost brother. I do not know much about him as my people abandoned him when he was young. But...I think that...that if I ever met him....I would know. Automatically, that he would be my brother." She sat back down on the bed.  
  
At this, Urami's heart melted as she smiled understandingly at the young girl. The lady walked back and sat down beside Yukina; she took the apparition's small hands in her own as she gazed at the girl. "Yukina-chan....everyone is always searching for something. Whether it be a brother, a sister, love, kindness, even acceptance. But it's up to the person themself if they wish to truly find it....I believe that you WILL locate your brother someday. Just someday...."  
  
"Just someday...?" Yukina repeated. Urami stood up again. "I must go discuss with my partner something. You sleep tight, Yukina-chan....oyasumi nasai...."  
  
"Oyasumi nasai, Urami-san..." Yukina yawned then laid down on the cozy bed, drifting off to sleep almost immediately.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Yusuke, get the others and get here to my office NOW!!!" Koenma's voice screamed in Yusuke's head.   
  
"What?" Yusuke yelled, standing up reflexively. Kuwabara, who had been sitting next to him, whispered,"Shhh! Urameshi, we're in a movie theater!" Other people told him to shut up and Keiko, who had been sitting on his other side, gave him an odd look.   
  
Yusuke sat back down and whispered to Keiko,"I'm sorry, Keiko but me and Kuwabara gotta go now!"   
  
Keiko stared dejectedly at Yusuke. "But....this is the middle of the movie...! Plus, how would it look if two little kids ran out? I feel like I'm....babysitting...."  
  
"I know, I'm sorry but this is urgent...!" Yusuke begged her hastily. Finally she nodded her approval.   
  
"Just go, Yusuke. I'll be alright..." With that, the spirit detective grabbed his friend and practically hauled him out of the theater.   
  
"Owwww!!! Urameshi! What the heck is going on?!" Kuwabara yelled at Yusuke as soon as they were outside. It was mid-afternoon, the sun overhead was burning hot and the sky was cloudy.   
  
"Koenma just yelled in my head, told me to get you and everyone to his office....NOW...." Yusuke mocked Koenma's voice.   
  
"Oh...this is another one of those mission thingies....right?" Kuwabara asked while kicked an empty soda can lying on the street.   
  
"I don't know...let's just go find Hiei and Kurama first." Yusuke gestured to Kuwabara.  
  
"There's no need, detective. We're right here...." Another voice broke into their conversation. The two boys looked up to find Kurama and Hiei standing right in front of them, obviously ready for action. Hiei made a face. "Could we please get out of this area anytime soon? The sunlight is blinding me...." All around them, the other adults were staring oddly at the 4 kids in the middle of the busy street.  
  
"Right...this sounds urgent. Let's get to Koenma's." Kurama nodded to the others. Yusuke didn't ask how they knew about the toddler's orders. Soon enough Yusuke was again in the paper filled room.   
  
"Ah, yes! Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei and Kurama....I had something urgent to tell you four...." Koenma, looking all high and mighty, looked down on them.   
  
"What is it, Koenma?" Kurama asked.   
  
"Hmmm....well....hehe....I will tell you four....if I remember it again...!" Koenma's sheepish smile showed on his face. Yusuke and Kuwabara's mouths fell open as they gawked at the prince's short memory span. Hiei and Kurama just shook their heads.  
  
"You idiot...! You called us all the way here just to tell us you forgot what you were going to tell us when we got here?!" (Confusing? You'll get it...^__^) Yusuke shouted at Koenma.   
  
"Hmm....oh yeah!" Koenma finally remembered and looked serious as he turned towards the detectives. "I called you all here to tell you....I believe we've found a counter potion to your shrinking...."   
  
Counter potion? Does that mean Yusuke and others will be back to normal size already?! Find out next chapter!  
  
*Done!!! Like it? Next chapter will contain some answers to unasked questions. Chibi Pix are STILL available! (Look at the top for info) Well that's all for now! I luv reviews! Reviewers rock....so please review! ^__^ 


	10. Death Wounds

Disclaimer: I own Akumo, Urami and anyone else you don't see in YYH.  
  
*Hi everyone! Sorry I haven't updated in so long....my mind was drawing a blank. I had run out of ideas -_- Gomen! I would like to thank Pegacorn, Byakugan and all my other reviewers! You guys rock; thanks so much! 'Nuff said, let's get to the chapter! After reading please review! Enjoy!  
  
**I won't be posting this up after this chapter so just keep in mind, Chibi (kid) pix of YYH crew still available. Email: XFinalFantasyX@msn.com ^^;  
  
*Now RekkaShinen1 presents*  
  
*******Chapter 10 - Death Wounds*******  
  
"A c-counter potion?!" Kuwabara uttered disbelievingly.  
  
"Yes, that's what I said." Koenma gave him an odd look. "Is Yusuke okay?"  
  
"Huh?" Kuwabara wondered. Yusuke looked dazed; then out of nowhere, he screamed,"Whoo-hoo!", scaring the daylights out of Hiei, Kurama and Kuwabara. They all jumped 3 feet into the air, Yusuke's leap was more out of joy then shock like the others.  
  
"Yusuke, calm yourself. What's the matter with you?" Koenma crossed his arms and tried to look tough.  
  
"Hehe..." The detective grinned sheepishly. "Eh, sorry, Koenma. Just got a bit excited there." Hiei glared in disgust at Yusuke while Kurama chuckled; Kuwabara looked bored. "What?! I never want to relive my childhood again...." The boy shook his head.  
  
"Yes, well, it seems we have found the counter potion as I was saying before I was interrupted." Koenma threw a dirty look at Yusuke. "But we should first test it again." A mini-fied ogre was led into the room and fed a teaspoon of mysterious purple liquid. Within seconds however, the once yellow kid ogre turned an ugly shade of green. Yusuke looked downcastedly at the still little ogre. Koenma rubbed his head nervously.   
  
"W-Well, hehe, I never said it worked...." The prince of hell stuttered.  
  
"Uh...maybe it was just the ogre? O-Or maybe you gave him too much? No! Too little!" Yusuke stalled desperately. Kurama laid a hand on the spirit detective's shoulder reassuringly.  
  
"Perhaps you messed up the potion?" The kitsune suggested.  
  
"In that case, you'll need another guinea pig." Hiei spoke up, glancing at Kuwabara meaningfully.  
  
"Hey!" Kuwabara yelled, understanding Hiei's hidden suggestion. "Watch it, shrimp boy! Wanna turn revolt-o lime?" He grabbed a vile of the counter potion and held it up threateningly. Hiei snickered meanly.  
  
"No thanks, fool. I can do that without YOUR help." The demon smirked at Yusuke and Kurama.  
  
"Hey, that's right. Kuwabara's never seen Hiei's other form, has he?" Yusuke whispered to the fox. (A/N: For those of you who have seen the movie, this occurs before that, ok?)  
  
"Not that I know of...." Kurama answered.  
  
"Hey boys. It seems the counter potion is a big failure. Hmm....that's odd. It worked yesterday...." Koenma said. "You may go."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Damn that Koenma, drags us all the way to Spirit World for nothing!" Yusuke kicked at an empty soda can, his hands shoved into the pockets of his shortened usual green outfit.  
  
"Ah, shut up, Urameshi. I want to get back to normal as much as you do. I mean, these people are giving me weird looks. But moping and acting like a complete dopehead isn't gonna help!" Kuwabara patted his friend on the back.  
  
"He's right. Until Koenma finds the counter potion, we might as well make the best of it." Kurama offered Yusuke a comforting smile.  
  
"Speaking of which, where's shorty?" Kuwabara peered around. "He just disappeared."  
  
"Uh, I don't think he was with us to start with...." Kurama piped up.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
'Yukina should be near the tree right about now....' Hiei thought to himself. But when the demon reached his sister's favorite spot, there was no one there. He waited patiently but the apparition never showed up. In the end, Hiei decided to go check things out.  
  
'That's odd....this place looks like it's been deserted for 2 months....' The demon suddenly caught a whiff of an uncommon scent on the wind. 'Oh god! I smell....blood! Yukina?!' For the first time in a while, Hiei experienced panic...and fear. He rushed towards the source of the bloody smell and found himself near the base of the tree.  
  
Foxes, birds, squirrels....all of Yukina's furry friends lay on the dirt ground slaughtered. Their heads were missing as well as other limbs; blood ran on the floor like the branches of a river. 'N-Nande....?!'  
  
The rank smell of blood was strongest here; it suffocated the demon. 'Yukina....'  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Kuwabara stopped walking upon feeling a chill run down his spine. "H-Hey guys? I just got this really weird feeling...."  
  
"For once you're right, oaf." Yusuke, Kuwabara and Kurama looked up to see Hiei standing in front of them.  
  
"What's wrong?" Yusuke asked.   
  
"It's Yukina. Her spirit energy has disappeared. Almost like she was wiped off this universe...." Only Kurama noticed the fire demon's hand clenching the hilt of his katana tightly as if to reassure himself.  
  
"Have you tried locating her with the Jagan eye?" The kitsune questioned. Hiei nodded in reply.  
  
"Of course. Nothing turned up...."  
  
"Nooooooo! Yukina! WHERE CAN YOU BE?!" Kuwabara suddenly shrieked.  
  
"Shut it, Kuwabara! Jeez, stop scaring the hell out of us!" Yusuke knocked his friend on the back of the head.  
  
"Hi, guys! Might I be of help?" Someone spoke from behind.  
  
"YUKINA?!"Kuwabara cried, whirling around furiously.  
  
"Uh....not really." Kori, the snow apparition princess of Hiseken, smiled cheerfully and waved. "Hey."  
  
"Yo princess. What's up?" Yusuke beamed, giving the young girl a pat on the shoulder.  
  
"I heard someone panicking from all the way back there." Kori pointed a finger at a clothing shop. Hiei and Yusuke smirked at the disraught Kuwabara. "Koyuki was taking me shopping."  
  
"Well, Yukina's gone missing." Kurama explained.  
  
Kori nodded. "Oh no! That's terrible. Wait, who's Yukina?"  
  
"My girlfriend!" Kuwabara wailed dejectedly.  
  
"You wish, idiot." Hiei's crimson eyes flared with rage as he glared at the confused teenager.  
  
"Who are you calling an idiot, eh?!" Kuwabara shook his fist.  
  
Hiei ignored the fool and gestured to Kurama. "Kitsune, a word...."  
  
"What is it, Hiei?" Kurama asked when out of earshot of the others.  
  
"There was....something else." Hiei looked away; oddly enough, this one statement was hard for him to spit out. "At Yukina's spot, there were headless animals. Yukina's friends...."  
  
Kurama immediately understood. "What do you make of it?"  
  
"I figure....they were killed when used in a threat against her. I think Yukina's in danger...."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Kurama and Hiei walked back to the group after their discussion and at that moment, Botan came sailing from the sky on her oar. "Guys....! A new mission from Koenma!" She landed gracefully on the ground. The spirit detectives glared at her.  
  
"Oh brighten up, guys! Hello, Princess Haritsuta." Botan greeted Kori, who smiled in response. "This new mission....it involves Akumo." Kurama's attention was caught. "Akumo has been wreaking havoc in an area of this city...." Botan continued. "His true motives are unknown at the moment but we believe he is looking for something. You guys had best get on this now." All the detectives sighed.  
  
"Damn, don't we ever get a break? Let's go and get this over with." Yusuke gestured to the others.  
  
"Wait! Can I join you?" Kori grabbed onto Yusuke's sleeve and he looked at her questioningly. "I have healing powers that might be of help to you and I can form a shielding barrier too."  
  
"No...it's too dangerous...." Kurama spoke, concerned for the princess's safety.   
  
"I can take care of myself....!" Kori said stubbornly. "Besides....I want to avenge Ryuki...." She added the last part softly. Yusuke looked at her in stunned silence.  
  
"H-How do you know about....?"   
  
"Just let her. I'll watch over her if need be." Hiei interrupted, fully understanding Kori's point. If Yukina was ever harmed in any way, he would waste no time to hunt down the murderer and kill the bastard himself. Kori gave the demon a grateful smile.  
  
"Fine. Let's just go, ok?!" The 4 spirit detectives and the one princess began running towards an area of the city.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"There he is!" Kuwabara screamed, pointing at a red haired spider demon standing in front of a building. Upon hearing Kuwabara's voice, Akumo spun around.  
  
"You again. We should stop running into each other like this. I'll finish you kids off once and for all!" Akumo lunged at the group who all leapt to safety. Yusuke had pulled Kori out of harm's way. "Let's see how you like my arachnids!" Suddenly, a whole group of giant black 8 legged demons appeared and began violently attacking the detectives. Hiei countered with his katana, Kurama with rose whip, Kuwabara with spirit sword and Yusuke spirit gun. Kori managed to form a barrier around herself.  
  
Within moments however, more spider demons appeared and the group was quickly getting worn out. There was no end to all the minions; the detectives were getting more and more scratched up. Hiei and Kurama fought back to back against the horde of demons that surrounded them.   
  
"Hiei, I have an idea....!" Kurama gasped.   
  
"Well, what are you waiting for?!" Hiei exclaimed, getting more aggravated by the second.  
  
"You're quicker than I am! Go defeat Akumo and I believe the demons will disappear!"   
  
"That's your brilliant plan?!" The fire demon had expected something much more from the knowledgeable kitsune.  
  
"Go! I should be able to hold them off!" Kurama focused all his spirit energy into his rose whip and began cutting up the nearest spiders. Hiei growled then quickly made a path through the demons towards their leader. At that moment, Akumo had his back turned.   
  
"Die!!!" Hiei snarled, aiming a slash through the red spider demon's back. Akumo quickly dodged the attack and began fighting back. The two experienced demons traded blows for blows, slashes for slashes, Hiei with his trusty katana, Akumo with a weapon made of a strong weblike material. Although the spider demon's weapon appeared fragile, it was in reality tougher than rock.  
  
At last, Hiei managed to knock Akumo's Web Slayer out of his hands and trap the spider against the wall. Akumo smirked and jumped to safety on the top of the nearest building. Hiei snarled; at this rate, nothing would get done. He had one choice left. The fire demon sheathed his sword and began pulling off the bandages on his right arm. He concentrated his spirit energy into that one part. Akumo's grin grew wider.   
  
"It'd be best if you rethink that over. Dragon of the Darkness Flame? You wouldn't want to hurt your loved ones, would you?" Suddenly, two of Akumo's minions appeared carrying an unconscious girl. Hiei recognized that sea green hair.  
  
"Yukina!" Hiei shouted, immediately stopping the flow of energy to his arm. "You bastard!" The fire demon was about to rush up to save his sister when Akumo chuckled.  
  
"Planning on killing me? Don't even think about it." Akumo formed a clawed weapon out of web and held it up to the ice apparition's flawless throat. "Make a single move and the girl dies." Hiei stood there, feeling helplessness and rage running through his veins; his red eyes burned with hatred.  
  
"Akumo! No! Please, not Yukina!" cried a voice. Urami came stumbling onto the roof, reaching out her pale hands. "Leave her out of this! When did you take her anyway?!" Akumo sneered.  
  
"When you slept, silly woman!" He laughed, dragging Yukina closer to the edge. At the bottom, Hiei stiffened, ready to catch the ice apparition if she fell.  
  
"Why?" Urami whispered. "I wanted revenge on the detectives too but not like this...."  
  
"This is what revenge is about, idiot woman!" Akumo turned his back to the edge and Hiei's eyes widened.  
  
'Now's my chance!' The demon flew up the side of the building, prepared to strike with his katana. But Akumo sensed him and turned around.  
  
"I told you not to move!" The spider demon yelled, running the clawed weapon across Yukina's throat. A red gash appeared on her neck, followed by running blood.  
  
"Yukina!" Hiei panicked. Akumo shoved the girl over the side of the building. She fell towards the ground, dropping like a dead weight. The fire demon leapt after her, catching the Koorime in midair. Hiei crashed onto the stone ground, but not caring. Instead he peered at his sister to make sure if she was okay.  
  
Yukina had been awoken from her state of unconsciousness by the pain in her neck. She looked up and saw Hiei glancing down at her.  
  
"Are you okay?" He asked shakily.  
  
"Hiei....uh-huh." She spoke, her throat hurting more than ever to do so. The apparition tried nodding but ended up choking on her own blood instead. Hiei's heart hurt, seeing his only family suffering. Suddenly, the fire demon felt his sister's energy slowly diminishing.   
  
"Yukina, promise me. Stay awake, ok?" Hiei whispered quietly. Yukina smiled weakly.  
  
"I don't think I can make that promise...." Hiei took his sister's hand and squeezed it reassuringly. He sent Kurama a telepathic message. [Kitsune, get over here NOW!]  
  
"Hi....Hiei...I-I don't think I'll make it...." Yukina coughed up some blood.  
  
"Don't talk like that!" Hiei replied harshly.  
  
"It's okay...." Even near death, Yukina offered comfort to others. "I have but one regret...that I failed to find my long lost elder brother...." Blood gushed from her wound. Her spirit energy was dangerously low; Hiei felt it fading with every gasping breath his sister took.  
  
"You didn't fail...." Hiei clutched Yukina's hand tightly, trying desperately to comfort not only her but himself as well.  
  
"What?" Yukina whispered, not getting what Hiei was hinting at.  
  
"I-I am your long lost brother...." He waited, for the rejection, for the shock and denial. Instead he felt Yukina's thin arms wrap around him to pull him into a hug.  
  
"Nii-chan! I finally found you...." Tears of joy rolled down the apparition's face, landing as precious jewels on the floor. Hiei clung to his sister, glad to have told her at last. Suddenly, Yukina grew limp in his arms, motionless and lifeless. Her spirit energy was gone.  
  
Kurama chose that moment to arrive. He was startled to see Hiei bent over a still Yukina, cradling her in his shaking arms.  
  
"Yukina!" Hiei shook the apparition. No sign of life came from her. "No." He laid a trembling hand on her tear-streaked cheek. It was as cold, no. Colder than ice.  
  
"Hiei?" Kurama asked gently. The demon didn't move.  
  
"She knew....she accepted me." Hiei murmured. Kurama bowed his head in silent respect.  
  
"Why?! Why is life so CRUEL?!" Hiei couldn't help staring at the beautiful face of his sister once more. The blood covered neck didn't match. Without warning, they fell out. Tears....  
  
And for the first time in his life, Hiei cried.  
  
*:'( That's all I have to say. 


	11. Spiritual Awakening : Part I

Disclaimer: Blood is crimson, spirit gun is azure, I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho, that's for sure! ^^; I was bored....but I do own Kori, Akumo, Urami and anyone else you haven't heard of.  
  
*This is Part I of a two part chapter. It was originally all one chappy but altogether it was too long. (It gave me a headache when I reread it -_-) So I split it in two! ^^; Thank you so much, reviewers! I hope you enjoy this chapter.  
  
*******Chapter 11 - Spiritual Awakening: Part I*******  
  
Kurama turned upon hearing footsteps pounding across the rooftop.  
  
"We finally got rid of them...." Yusuke grinned triumphantly. His smile quickly vanished though when he saw Hiei holding lifeless Yukina in his arms. Kori clasped a hand to her mouth and turned away. Her eyes welled up with tears but she didn't know why. Kuwabara's mouth dropped open in shock.  
  
"Yu-Yukina! Hey, what's shrimpface doing with MY girl?!" Kuwabara was about to run forward and attempt to deck Hiei in the face for stealing "his" Yukina but someone threw an arm out and stopped him. Kurama. Of all the people.  
  
"K-Kurama?! What are you...?"  
  
"Let them be." Kurama answered, a pained expression on his face. "Yukina was very dear to Hiei....they're siblings." The kitsune added quietly. Kuwabara's face was a mix of shock, surprise and utter disbelief. For once, he was actually speechless.  
  
Without warning, Kori ran ahead and dropped to her knees beside the fire demon. "What do you want?" came his harsh reply.  
  
"Give me Yukina's hand. I may be able to revive her...." Hiei looked up doubtfully. "It's worth a try." The snow princess seized the apparition's cold hand and concentrated. "I'm trying to contain her spirit inside her body." She explained. "As long as the soul remains intact within the body, she should still have a chance." Kori became silent, focusing all her own spirit energy to revive Yukina. After a while, sweat appeared on her forehead. It was not an easy job to maintain control over Spiritual Revival.   
  
"Ah!" Kori felt a sudden pain shooting through her head and nearly collapsed. But Hiei held her up.  
  
"You okay? Don't kill yourself over this...." He muttered.  
  
"No, almost finished....it's just a side effect." Kori gasped. At last, she fell back, drained completely of her energy. At first, only Hiei could feel the apparition's soul dwindling but then there was a slight increase in her spirit energy. However, Yukina's eyes still did not open. The other 3 guys came over to inspect Kori's work.  
  
"She's not waking up!" Kuwabara shrieked, pointing a trembling finger at his love.  
  
"Yukina is not completely revived yet. I merely stopped the transport of her spirit to Reikai. Once a soul is separated from the body, the person will have no choice but to go to the heavens." Kori whispered weakly.   
  
"So how do we get her to wake up for real?" asked Yusuke.  
  
"W-With a potion...the Saigen potion...only the most intellectable know of its ingredients." Kori smiled then passed out. Cries of "Kori! Princess!" were heard.  
  
"I guess the strain of the job wore her out." Kurama said, gathering the fainted snow apparition up in his arms. Kuwabara and Hiei argued over who would carry Yukina.  
  
"She's my girlfriend!" Kuwabara yelled.  
  
"Says you, oaf!" Hiei pointed out.   
  
"Yeah, well, you can't even pick her up. You're too short!" Kuwabara sneered. Hiei's scowl disappeared and was replaced by a smirk.  
  
"Funny...I may be shorter than you but your skill and power comes nowhere close to mine."  
  
"Shut up! I could beat you up anyday, anytime, you name it!"   
  
"Anytime, huh? How about now?" Hiei smiled meanly, raising his spirit energy to prepare for battle.  
  
"Hiei...." Kurama's voice held a warning edge to it. Kuwabara ended up carrying Yukina much to Hiei's dismay.  
  
"If you so much as stare at her, I will not hesitate to rip off your head and stick it on a tree as a warning sign for all other idiots." Hiei threatened. Kuwabara did not bother exerting a reply; Hiei seemed to mean the words he said and to prove his point, he was monitoring the human boy carefully.  
  
The guys decided to bring the apparitions to Genkai's temple as it was the safest haven and the chances of humans intruding were slim. Kori lay in a futon next to a separate one with Yukina in it, who was still deathly pale. When the snow apparition princess awoke, she saw concerned emerald eyes hovering above her face.  
  
"Eeeeeek!" She screamed, causing startled Kurama to fall back in surprise. "Oh, it was just you, Kurama. Sorry." Kori sat up. "Scary. Don't do that! I thought you were a demon."  
  
"I am a demon." Kurama replied, kneeling back on his knees again, lost grace found. Hiei, beside Yukina, smirked at the fox's inelegance.  
  
"Yeah, well. Hey, where am I?" The princess looked around the unfamiliar room. "And where is everyone else? How'd I get here?" She then noticed Yukina. "And oh my gosh! Has she taken the potion?"  
  
"You're at Genkai's temple, she is a friend of ours and Yusuke's instructor. I suppose everyone else is in the next room over, I carried you here...."  
  
"And as for Yukina, we have no idea what potion she is to take. You forgot to fill us in on that." Hiei interrupted in, a grim look on his face again. His red eyes were brimmed with worry.  
  
"Princess Haritsuta, do you know the ingredients? For the potion?" Kurama questioned.  
  
"I do. But I learned this from...from a friend a long time ago. I don't remember any of the needed materials." Kori answered, shaking her head. "I'm sorry."  
  
"Don't be." Hiei replied, now checking to see if Yukina's soul was still in her body. "Kurama, can you still perform Tensou Kinen?"   
  
"Memory Transfer? Yes, but I don't want to probe around in Haritsuta Hime's memory...." Kurama said doubtfully.  
  
"My memory?" Kori was confused.  
  
"Tensou Kinen is a form of memory channeling. It transfers the memories of one to another, making it seem like the viewer is almost experiencing the thought himself."  
  
"I see." The princess answered, usually quiet. "If it will save your sister...." Kori nodded at Hiei. "I'm willing to go through with it." She turned back to Kurama. "What do I have to do?"   
  
"Just sit still. Try not to move that much otherwise the connection will break."   
  
Kori smiled understandingly. In a way, her smile appeared sad. "Try not to be too horrified at what you see." Kurama wondered the hidden meaning of this statement. He placed his hands near Kori's temples, touching two fingers to each side of her head. His eyes reflexively squeezed shut. The snow apparition's crystal blue eyes were fluttering.   
  
As the kitsune slowly absorbed the princess's past, he caught a glimpse of her past life. Now he understood Kori's implication. In the first memory, Kori was crying out in pain....  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"I didn't do it! It was Masaki, I saw him!" Kori cried out, tears welling up in her eyes.  
  
"Shut up, you noisy brat! Masaki is my most trusted servant; he would not betray me like that!" A woman slapped the princess hard across the face to the floor. She was regally dressed in elegant clothing but never the less, her face was marred with a look of pure delight at seeing Kori in pain.  
  
"I would not betray you like that either!" Kori yelled back, a gash forming on her face. Blood trickled out of the wound and plopped onto the floor. Her eyes widened upon seeing the red liquid and she felt her face. Her fingers came away red as Kori stared in disbelief at her mother. Her once loving mother who had raised her....  
  
"You're a good for nothing idiot, you're not fit to be my daughter!" The queen continued, beginning to walk away down the hall.   
  
"Wait! Mother, where is Ryuki?! Tell me where Ryuki is, please!" Kori begged, simultaneously dropping to her knees. She bowed her head until she felt the cold stone floor, cool against her hot forehead. "Please!"  
  
The woman paused, a maliced smile forming on her face. "That is not your concern, you worthless bitch." Kori flinched but still didn't move from her position. Without a backward glance, the woman flicked her fingers. "Masaki, take care of the little wretch." The brainless servant grinned evilly, cracking his massive knuckles. He began pummeling the princess who yelped out in agony.   
  
'No. I will not cry.' Kori grimaced but held back her tears as best as she could, despite the servant kicking and punching her delicate body. 'I will not give them the satisfaction of my tears.'  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Kurama was appalled; he had seen demons betray each other before but not like this. Not between mother and child. Having no choice after agreeing to do so, he continued traveling back in Kori's memories. The next memory showed the princess 2 years before.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Ryu-chan! Come out and keep me company, please? Hello...!" The young princess walked through a beautiful, ice-glazed hall. "Ryuki?" She was dressed in a lavender kimono adorned with Hiseken's trademark snowflakes.  
  
At the sound of her voice, a spiky black haired boy jumped out from behind the nearest column screaming,"Wahhhh!". Kori shrieked, leaping 3 feet into the air. Ryuki roared with laughter upon seeing his timid sister startled.  
  
"RYUKI!!!" Kori yelled, tackling her brother and tickling him. He donned baggy black pants and a dark blue blazer. His usual pendant chain he never took off hung around his neck and a crystal stud acquired from the Ningenkai glinted in his ear.   
  
"Ah! Run away!" Ryuki cried, darting away from his indignant sister. Kori growled and began chasing him. The mischievious prince turned around and made a face, all while running. He wasn't looking at where he was going and slammed head on into his father who looked haughtily at his offspring.  
  
"Children, stop that nonsense immediately." He boomed in a deep voice, adjusting his elegant cape. "Ryuki, get dressed. You've got another ceremony."  
  
The prince made another disgusted face. "Aw. One, we're not children; Kori and I are older than most of your warrior knight dudes anyhow. Two, what's wrong with my outfit?! Damn, I hate those stupid electric blue jumpsuits all you elders wear. And three, another ceremony?!" Ryuki leapt gracefully onto the top of a low column, where he sat Indian-style. "Why the hell do we need yet another ritual thing?! Every damn person knows who I am and how I look like already! Ugh!" The boy laid down on his back, knees up, arms behind his head.  
  
"Ryuki, get down here now!" The king demanded. He was aghasted at his son's behavior and lack of enthusiasm, plus he was getting more and more irritated by the minute. "You know you're expected to wear the royal gown on the Hiseken ruling family and another thing. You're going to this ceremony whether you like it or NOT!" The king shouted angrily walking off, his cape trailing behind him. Ryuki let out a heavy sigh once his father was gone.  
  
"Yo, Kori? You still there, Nee-chan?" Ryuki called down. To his alarm, the princess was nowhere to be seen. "Kori! Nee-chan, I'm gonna fall off...! You better save meeeeeee!" He taunted.  
  
"No, you're not. I've been sitting next to you for quite some time already; you just didn't notice." Kori sat on top of the next column, her arms wrapped around her knees pulled up to her chest. She had a solemn expression on her face which Ryuki could not read.  
  
"Hey, sis, you look troubled. Watcha thinking about?" The prince asked with real concern. Kori smiled sadly.  
  
"Nothing much really. Thanks for asking though." The boy studied Kori's face and, finding no hint as to her thoughts, gave up trying to get her to spill and settled on trying to cheer her up instead.  
  
"Whatever. I supposed Pop is right and that I gotta change into my hideous bright blue jumpsuit soon." Ryuki imitated his father pulling on the suit, accompanied by a disgruntled look. Kori chuckled. Ryuki continued making fun of the suit and the face he had to wear it until Kori let loose a burst of laughter. "I gotta go put on the ugly thing and join Father for another boring ceremony. I'll see ya, sis." He jumped off the column, landed neatly and went on his way. Kori stayed where she was and thought to herself.  
  
'Aw, poor Ryu-chan. Getting so much attention and being the favorite in Father's eyes.' She closed her own eyes. 'In a way, I kinda envy him. Mother adores him and Father...well Father just ignores me. If it weren't for Ryuki, I'd be all alone....'  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Back in the present, Kurama winced despite his calm nature. He truly felt sorry for the princess....  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Pale hands reached out and held kori. The princess felt comfortable in the warm embrace. "Kori-san, I'm going to tell you a secret. This is an ancient recipe, handed down from my family generations to generations." A female voice whispered in the princess's ear.  
  
"What kind of secret?" Young Kori asked quietly.  
  
"When those near to you have passed on unexpectedly, you have the power to bring them back."  
  
"How?"  
  
"With 5 simple ingredients. Remember this, Kori, do not tell anyone what you will hear. This entire secret is sacred and if it fell into the wrong hands, well, there'd be chaos." The voice whispered. Kori tried to look at the speaker but she couldn't. She trust this individual though.  
  
"I promise...." She laid a hand on the spot where her heart was. "On my honor of being a princess."  
  
"Ok, if you promise. The 5 components needed are Jade, Crimson, Saffron, Amethyst and Azure." She answered. "They make up the crystal."  
  
"Huh? But those are colors." Kori gazed at the woman with big sapphire eyes.  
  
"Yes, but they also hold another meaning. Those 5 special colors represent items. Jade is the name of a rare plant in Makai found on the outskirts of Midori City. Crimson is a blood colored jewel in Aka Cave, for Saffron you need the Golden Sphere in Chairoi Forest and amethyst, you need a vial of water from the Indigo River. Listen, Kori-chan, this is most important. The Azure ingredient is your tear, without your Tear of Sorrow, the entire potion is useless." The woman paused to take a breath.  
  
"But why my tear?" questioned the snow apparition.  
  
"Because you, Kori-san, are special. You are the only one who can-"  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Kurama was jolted back to the present; his Tensou Kinen had a time limit and it just ran out. Kori, kneeling in front of him, stared at him expectedly. Kurama lowered his hands from Kori's head.  
  
"Did you find the ingredients?" She asked softly at last. Kurama nodded shakily.  
  
"Well?" Hiei raised an eyebrow. "Come on, out with it, kitsune. What do we need?"   
  
Kurama steadied his voice and explained all the components. Suddenly the door to the room was wrenched open and the entire rest of the gang, which consisted of Yusuke, Kuwabara, Botan and Genkai, poured in.  
  
"Are you all okay?" Botan asked immediately.  
  
"Whoa, are we having a party or something?" The baffled Kuwabara glanced at the two demons gathered around Kori and Yukina.  
  
"Whooooooo! Party!" Yusuke shouted out. Only to have Genkai scold,"Shut it, dimwit."  
  
Kurama smiled sheepishly. "Actually I was thinking of getting started on Yukina's revival potion."  
  
"Kurama, please do. And the rest of you, SHUT UP! You're giving me a damn headache!" Hiei complained. In an instant, all became silent. They'd seen Hiei before in a violently pissed off mood and didn't wish to get on his bad side.   
  
"Yes, about the potion...." Kurama cleared his throat. "We need to get to Makai in order to obtain the materials. I was planning on going and bring Kori with me just to see if she remembers the areas where the items are located." He glanced at the group to see if they were fine with his idea. Kurama knew of Hiei's wish to stay by his sister's side to watch over her, the same with Kuwabara and his love for the apparition. That left Yusuke to accompany him. "Hm...and Yusuke should come too if it's not too much trouble."   
  
"Not too much trouble?! That's a hell of a lot! Why do I have to go?!" Yusuke fumed.  
  
"We might run into some trouble and if by chance something happens to me...." Kurama nodded towards Kori. Yusuke understood the fox's gesture and automatically calmed down. The reluctant spirit detective stood up and stretched.  
  
"Like I say on my other missions, let's do this and get it over with."  
  
Kurama got up and helped Kori up off the floor. "Botan, could you make us a portal to the Makai?"  
  
"Gladly." replied the bubbly ferry girl. Soon enough, a shimmering portal was opened and the demon, the detective and the princess went through.  
  
*Part II is up next...take a break, watch some TV or grab some snacks! This is not finished yet! Please proceed to next page.^^ 


	12. Spiritual Awakening : Part 2

Disclaimer: I own Kori, Akumo, Urami and anyone else you don't see in the anime.  
  
*Part II starts now. Thanks for reviews. Enjoy!  
  
*******Chapter 12 - Spiritual Awakening: Part II*******  
  
"The first item I believe was Jade. Correct?" Kurama asked the princess.  
  
"Yeah. It's on the outskirts of Midori City, located about 2 miles from here. We should get there in less than an hour." replied Kori without a moment's hesitation. Kurama and Yusuke stared at her in amazement. Kori noticed them looking and blushed.  
  
"I'm sorry. It just popped out." She explained.  
  
"Your memory of the potion may be returning. Don't be sorry." Kurama reminded her.  
  
"Could we go?!" Impatient Yusuke stomped away irritatedly while the other two followed.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"The plant on the edge of Midori City? Well then which one are we talking about, fox boy?" Three different types of plants sprouted from the ground, a red one, a purple kind and green type.  
  
"I-I don't know...." Kurama shrugged. 'This wasn't in the memory...!'  
  
"Princess, do ya know which one we need? Hey, uh...Princess?" Yusuke waved his hand.  
  
Kori knelt down and plucked some of the green plants. "This one...." She said, almost like she was in a trance.  
  
"Kori?" Kurama touched her shoulder. The snow apparition's eyes were glazed over and dull; she didn't react. "Kori....?" The kitsune shook the princess gently.  
  
"Huh, what?" Realization dawned in Kori's eyes as she shook her head. "Sorry, must've dozed off." She said guiltily, staring at the flowers in her hand. "Oh, uh, we should put this in a safe place." Yusuke took the plants from her and tucked them in a bag Kurama had brought along.  
  
"One down, four more to go!" Yusuke grinned.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Hey, Kurama! Is this the cave?" Yusuke peered into the entrance of Aka cave and saw nothing but pitch black.  
  
"I would think so...." Kurama studied the cave.  
  
"Only one way to find out!" Yusuke yelled, walking into the cave.  
  
"Wait, Yusuke! There might be....traps...." Kurama finished. Too late. Yusuke was already a couple feet in, waving madly.  
  
"Come on, guys!" He screamed back at the others. Kurama sighed.  
  
"He's always so brash...." He muttered to Kori who smiled.  
  
"Yes, but like Ryuki used to say, you never know until you try." The princess ran into the cave to catch up to the detective with Kurama close behind.  
  
"Crimson should be located in here somewhere." Kurama spoke up.   
  
"What's this crimson thing look like anyhow?" Yusuke nudged the fox.  
  
"It's a blood colored jewel."  
  
"Fancy that." Yusuke kicked the pebbles lying near his feet. Suddenly, something grabbed his ankle. "Ahhhhh!" He screamed, violently trying to get the thing off his leg.   
  
"How dare you proceed into Aka Cave without my permission...." The cave caused the creepy voice to echo, making it seem like the sound was all around Kurama, Kori and the pissed off Yusuke. It was confusing in the dark cave.  
  
"GET OFF MY FOOT!!!" yelled Yusuke. He shoved his other foot into the thing clinging to his ankle.  
  
"Ow!" It yelled, emitting more echoes. Kori held up her hands and concentrated her energy into them. She produced a blue orb and flooded the area with bright cerulean light.  
  
"Who...or what the hell are you?!" Yusuke asked. The "thing" that had been grabbing his foot was leaning against the rock wall and clutching his bruised stomach. It had 4 arms and was the color of mold; it possessed the form of a regular demon.  
  
"I'm Yamade, guardian of this cave. Intruders are not welcome so leave now or else I'll get seriously angry!" The demon tried to sound brave.  
  
"Hah! If you're about to get serious, then why the hell are your knees shaking?" Yusuke laughed.   
  
"Shut up, I'm cold!" Yamade screeched back.   
  
Yusuke stopped snickering and moved towards the demon. He held up a fist threateningly. "Ok, listen good, you jerk. I'm in this pointless hunt and I'm not feeling too hot about it so give us the goddamn crimson jewel and I won't pound your face in too hard!"   
  
"Eep!" Yamade covered his head. "I'll give you Crimson; just don't hurt me! Follow me." He began leading them deeper into the cave.  
  
"See? That guy was all talk and no fight." Yusuke walked alongside Kori.  
  
"Keep your guard up, Yusuke. Things are not always as they seem...." Kurama reminded him.   
  
"Here it is." Yamade stopped suddenly and gestured to a cave wall. Inscriptions accompanied a red gem wedged into the rock wall. The detective hesitated, remembering the kitsune's warning.   
  
"You sure this isn't a trick?" He asked the reluctant demon suspiciously. "Just to be on the safe side, you take out the jewel and give it to us."  
  
"But I only guard it, I don't...." Again the boy held up a clenched fist. "Oh, in that case, here goes...." Yamade reached carefully and popped out the stone. He waited and when nothing happened, he shoved it into Yusuke's outstretched hand. "Will you return it?" The demon asked hopefully. Yusuke threw it in the air and caught it.   
  
"Not likely. Thanks though, man." He grinned and began shuffling towards the cave's exit. "Let's move!"  
  
"Sorry...." Kori said with an apologetic smile. The three rushed out of the cave as Yamade gaped after them in shock.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"If I remember correctly, Indigo River runs through Chairoi forest. They're extremely close to one another." Kurama, wise as ever, pointed out. "How about we split up?"  
  
"Great, I'll go with Kori." Yusuke said, moving closer to the princess. Kurama shook his head.  
  
"No, Princess Haritsuta should accompany me."  
  
"Why do you get a companion, fox boy?"  
  
"Because of that, I am a demon and is more suited to Makai then you. No offense, Yusuke." Kurama explained. Yusuke grumbled a bit but agreed and retrieved a small jar from the pouch.  
  
"I'll get the water, you guys get the orb. Deal?" Yusuke asked.  
  
"Deal." Kurama answered for them both.  
  
"Take care of yourself." Yusuke patted Kori on the head and shuffled off. Kurama nodded and the 2 set off into the forest.  
  
At first, the kitsune and the hime (princess) walked in silence. Then Kori broke the stillness by saying quietly,"You saw, didn't you? In my memory?"  
  
Kurama didn't know what to say; the apparition sounded so distressed. "Yes." He spoke at last. "Were they always....?"  
  
Kori shook her head. "They treated us with kindness and care when we were children. But they've changed! Both of them....I don't know what to make of it."   
  
"Did you ever regret it? Having parents like that?" The question was so unlike the Kurama Kori knew to ask. She thought for a while.  
  
"Surprisingly, no. Never." She answered truthfully. "I had fantasized before what life wouldn't been like if I had different parents. But no matter what they did, I couldn't hate them. I just couldn't, even though sometimes I wish I did! My heart wouldn't obey...." Tears fell out of her watery eyes. Kurama instantly regretted his questions. "Maybe in my mind, I thought hatred for those who brought suffering would've eased my pain, perhaps even make it disappear. Does that make me bad? Am I a sinister person because I wish to hate?!" Kori sobbed, finally pouring out her frustrations to someone. All those bottled up emotions built up within her over time and she wanted to spill to someone.  
  
Oddly enough, the princess knew Kurama for less than a month, yet she was confiding so much in him. 'He just seems so trustworthy. I feel comforted when I'm with him; I guess it's this calm aura only he seems to possess.'  
  
Kurama put his arm around the crying girl and pulled her close to him. "You are not a bad person, Kori. Everyone is entitled to their own feelings, including you. I'm almost too ashamed to tell you this. Before my mother grew ill, I-I despised her. I violently despised humans and their fool hardy ways. Especially their ridiculous emotions. But over the years, my mother, she risked her own life many times for mine, my well being. I was moved; no one had ever shown me that kind of care and compassion before. I stood by helpless as my dear mother was diagnosed with a sickness."  
  
"Even now, I feel like nothing I do can ever repay her kindness. I hide secrets from her, sometimes even having to lie to her face! Though there is nothing I can do about it, I feel....like a despicable creature when I trick my gentle mother." He let out a snort. "You must think I'm pathetic, huh?"   
  
"...no. Not at all."  
  
"I guess...what I'm trying to prove here is that you're not alone, Kori. You can always depend on me...."  
  
Kori sniffled then wiped away her last remaining tears. "Thanks, Kurama. For listening and just for being here. I feel better now."  
  
"Anytime." Kurama smiled and stepped back. "We should probably go look for the Golden Sphere...or else Yusuke will have my head."   
  
An image of a hysterical Yusuke running around and breaking things formed in Kori's mind, making her giggle.   
  
"You should laugh more often, Kori. You're at your best when you smile." Kurama strolled into the forest.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Damn, the water's....purple?" Yusuke lowered the vial into Indigo River. When he lifted it, the jar was full. "Wow, that was easy!"  
  
Suddenly the ground started trembling. The river was wildly splashing and hitting the banks.  
  
"Crap! Why do I even bother?!" Yusuke complained, running back towards Chairoi Forest. "Whoa!" The floor in front of him split into 2 sides. The crevice stretched as wide as 15 feet. Yusuke peered over the edge; the black darkness greeted his eyes. He made a disgusted face. Cries of "Yusuke! Yusuke!" reached his ears. Across the abyss, Kurama and Kori was sprinting directly towards him.  
  
"Guys, watch out! The cliff!" He yelled as loud as he could. Kurama screeched to a halt right in front of the crevice and pulled the snow apparition to a stop next to him.  
  
"Yusuke! Did you get the vial?" Kurama shouted across. The detective held up the vial with the purple liquid triumphantly.  
  
"What about you?" He asked loudly. This time, Kori showed him the glowing Golden Sphere in her hands. "Nice! Now the only problem is how the hell I am gonna get across!"  
  
"Yusuke, I'll use my Okase plant to cover the distance between the 2 sides. You can use it to get across!" Kurama puled out a round seed from his pocket.  
  
"Good thinking!" Yusuke gave the fox spirit a thumbs up. Kurama threw the seed near the edge and a leafy red plant sprouted up. It reached past the abyss and latched itself on the edge of the other side. Yusuke glanced at it nervously. "Uh, but are you sure it's not gonna eat me?"  
  
"Not unless I tell it to. Hurry, we need the vial!" Yusuke ran across the gap and after several shaky moments, landed safely on Kurama and Kori's side.  
  
"Ok good. So we have everything." Kori checked the bag with the 4 items. "Alright, let's get back to Genkai's!"  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
The door to a room in Genkai's temple slid open and the three people standing in the doorway waved.  
  
"Yoo-hoo, we're back!" Yusuke cheered.  
  
"Finally! I was wondering whether or not you'd get back this decade!" Hiei snapped. He had not moved from his spot next to Yukina's body since the group last saw him.   
  
"Yeah Urameshi! Yukina's going cold!" Kuwabara complained.  
  
"Genkai is brewing the Revival Potion now. It should be ready soon." Kurama reassured him and Hiei.   
  
"Hn...." Hiei replied, looking around. "Where's the girl?" Kori had disappeared.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Not wanting to disturb the somewhat peace, Kori had snucked away to find Genkai in the next room over. The old teacher had bade her to come into the room and help her with the potion.  
  
"Put in the last ingredient." Genkai beside Kori commanded. Kori nodded and eventually produced a teardrop. It landed smoothly into the bubbling pot and at once, the substance began to glow furiously. Kori looked at it with interest.  
  
'What is she?' Genkai pondered to herself. 'Spiritual Revival, azure tears....no ordinary snow apparition has that kind of power...!'  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Minutes later, a cup of the potion was brought to Yukina's cold lips. Kori gently tipped it into her mouth. All waited.  
  
"Did it work? Did it work?" repeated Kuwabara eagerly. Yukina's eyes fluttered open. Concerned faces greet her.  
  
"Yukina! You're alright!" Botan cried happily.  
  
"My love, you're okay!" Kuwabara attempted to hug Yukina, much to Hiei's disgust.  
  
"Don't touch her!" He warned.  
  
"Welcome back." Kurama calmly said.  
  
"Yeh, good to have you with us!" Yusuke smiled.  
  
After things calmed down, Kori talked with the newly revived apparition. The two ended up giggling and chatting like old friends.  
  
"I should be going; you and Hiei have some catching up to do." Kori said good bye to Yukina and stepped out the door, leaving her, her brother and Kuwabara in the room.  
  
"Hey Yukina, now that you're up and about, would ya like to go out on a date with me? It'll be fun." promised Kuwabara.  
  
"What?! Not on my watch, you fool!" Hiei said angrily.  
  
"Look, Hiei, I know you're Yukina's older brother but that doesn't mean you...." Hiei's crimson eyes narrowed into slits.   
  
"How do YOU know? Who told you?!" The demon yelled.  
  
"Oh, uh...." Kuwabara stuttered. Hiei grinned malicingly.  
  
"I see...that traitor! Kurama...."  
  
"Uh, yeah, about that...." The boy felt the demon's spirit energy rising dangerously.  
  
"He did, didn't he?" Hiei stood up. "He will pay....!" Suddenly, he felt a tug on the edge of his cloak. It was Yukina.   
  
"Nii-chan, please forgive Kurama. Kazuma has a right to know." Yukina stared at Hiei with those same soulful crimson eyes. Hiei stopped.   
  
"Fine." Hiei didn't tell her the only reason he didn't go slit Kurama's throat right then and there was because of her pleading and to respect her wishes.   
  
"Uh, yeh. So what do you say to that date, Yukina?" Kuwabara tried again. She glanced at her brother who was looking at the very interesting floor.   
  
"That sounds fun, Kazuma...." She said. Hiei tried hard to look glad for his sister but he was breaking inside.   
  
'She's too good for the oaf!' The voice inside his head screamed. 'But I want her to be happy....' Another side of Hiei argued. 'Yukina will not be happy with an idiot like that!' screamed his inner voice again.  
  
"...but...Nii-chan and I...we have a lot of catching up to do." Yukina finished, remembering Kori's farewell words. Kuwabara's face fell.  
  
"You'd rather hang out with runt boy than me?!" The boy exclaimed. Hiei bristled.  
  
'Don't kill the stupid idiot now! Yukina doesn't want to see any more death...." Hiei controlled his fighting urge to decimate the oaf.   
  
Yukina looked confusedly between the distraught Kuwabara and the half livid Hiei. "Ano...can I ask you a question, Hiei?"  
  
"Forget the oaf. What is it, Yukina?" Hiei's sharp look softened as he gazed at his gentle sister.  
  
"Can you....take me to see Aunt Rui? I miss her...."  
  
"Sure. We can go right now if you like." Outside, it was just after noon and the sun dipped in the clear sky.   
  
"Really?! Now? Oh, can we? Please...?" Yukina squealed delightedly.  
  
"The trip would be safer to make during the day." A small smile, the one reserved for only Yukina, made its way onto Hiei's face. "Let's go."  
  
"Eh, Yukina?! What about me?" wailed the forgotten Kuwabara.  
  
Hiei paid no heed to the panic-struck boy's shrieking and helped Yukina up. He shyly offered the apparition his arm and Yukina took it with a gentle smile. As the two started walking out the door, she turned back.   
  
"I'm really sorry, Kazuma...." Yukina bit her lip and gazed at Kuwabara with an apologetic look. "But Nii-chan is my only family...."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Kurama saw Yukina chattering excitedly to Hiei about how glad she was to have him as her brother. Hiei listened to what she had to said and only spoke to answer her questions. Eventually, both were out of sight.   
  
Kurama leaned back against the wall, enjoying the peace and quiet. Suddenly, his nerves tensed up. A familiar feeling struck him as he recognized the wavering smell in the air.  
  
'Mother?! Wait, perhaps it's a trick set up by Akumo. No! It's for real....Mother is somewhere near this area!' Kurama stood up and glanced around. A small movement caught his sight as the fox's eyes widened in horrific shock.  
  
*Ooooo, what did Kurama see? Find out next chapter! ^_^ Please review. 


	13. Hell Hath no Fury

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho but I do own Kori and Akumo.  
  
*Hey guys! Thanks for reviews and for keeping up with this fic! Please, if you have some spare time, check out my new fic Icy Heart. I need to know whether or not its a keeper; thanks! Enjoy!  
  
.::For this chapter especially, I have decided to write in Kurama's POV::. *When it turns back to normal POV, I'll make a note*  
  
*******Chapter 13 - Hell Hath no Fury*******  
  
..::Kurama's POV::..  
  
Creak. Creeeak. The infectious sound rang in my ears. Creeeak. I wish it'd stop, I wish I had the energy to move forward and stop the terrible noise. But I couldn't. My body was paralyzed with horror; it wouldn't obey when I commanded myself to move. Creeeeak. That ghastly noise. Coming from the tree. Coming from the rope tied to the tree branch. Creeeak. The rope my mother suspended from by her neck. Lifeless.  
  
She was dead. Hung. From a tree by her delicate neck. I looked up at her, at my beautiful mother. Her neck and face had turned a bluish color from being strung up there and bruises, ranging everywhere from red to black, covered almost every inch of her skin, but never the less she was beautiful. As I gazed at her motionless body, horrorstruck, a disturbing feeling filled me. The feeling that makes you want to throw up, the terrifying feeling of loss....  
  
"Mother...." I whispered, already choking up. "Who did this to you....? Who did this?!" My usual calm was gone, replaced by fury. This was my mother....my ONLY FAMILY....! Youko's soul inside me suddenly flared up with anger....no. Youko was my angry emotion, the source of all my rage. It could've only come from him.  
  
My mother is dead. Those dreadful four words I hoped never to hear. Dead....that word alone echoed in my head. My mother was killed....! I want revenge. I want vengeance. I want to see the jaws of death devour the murderer alive.  
  
Murderer. There were a couple of criminals I could think of that could've done it but only one person came to my mind. Only one creature vile enough, despicable enough to cold bloodedly kill one of the several people I truly cared about. Akumo. Last time, I watched that felon practically rip Hiei's heart in half by killing Yukina. He walked away in sick satisfaction, knowing he had probably scarred poor Hiei's mind forever. I will not allow it to happen again; I won't let him take advantage of our unsuspecting hearts and attack those close to it.   
  
Before I even knew it, I was screaming. "AKUMO! GET OUT HERE, YOU BASTARD!!!!" My lips moved but I yelled with Youko's fury. "I KNOW YOU'RE HERE, YOU TWISTED PSYCHO!!! COME OUT AND FIGHT ME!!!"   
  
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Yusuke and the others, minus Hiei and Yukina, rushing towards me. I don't need their help; not to be arrogant but I alone am perfectly capable of ripping Akumo's head clean off his neck.  
  
"AKUMO! COWARD!!! DESPICABLE BASTARD! FIGHT ME, DAMMIT!!!" I screamed at the air. I screamed every curse and insult I knew. Hiei would've been proud.  
  
I was so busy yelling at air, I didn't even notice the tear that ran down the side of my face. Until it fell onto my sleeve and created a damp spot that is.  
  
"Kurama...." Someone murmured. It was Yusuke. He had seen her hanging from the tree as did the others. "I'm sorry...." Yusuke said gently.  
  
Sorry? Sorry for what? For not saving her? For her death in my part? No. I should be the one who's sorry. Sorry I failed miserably to protect her. Sorry I couldn't even muster up the strength to look at her again. Sorry I am such a weak willed useless being....  
  
There it was. That familiar youki. The youki of a bloodthirsty killer....Akumo. He stood under the tree where she hung, smirking with that disgustingly foul grin on his face. "You called?" He asked calmly. Like he didn't care at all. Of course not, he was the murderer.  
  
"BASTARD!!!" popped out of my mouth. I wasn't even aware of the transformed rose whip in my hand, wasn't even aware I was violently lashing at him. It was complete instinct. But to no avail, the deadly rose whip met air as Akumo dodged my slashes. He retaliated by shooting a web of sticky thread at me. Too easy. I simply sliced the web up and peered around. Revenge was going to be easier than I thought.  
  
*Normal POV* (For me, battles are hard to write from a character's POV. But I will revert back to Kurama's POV soon)  
  
Kurama stood in a defensive position, tense and alert. In a flash, Akumo was behind the fox, wrapping a thick strand of web around his neck and attempting to choke Kurama to death. Yusuke immediately raised his index finger and focused his spirit energy. Kurama caught the quick movement and shot the detective a remorseful glare.  
  
"Sorry...." Kurama slashed the thread choking him in half and continued fighting Akumo. "But back off, Yusuke! This is my battle!" Stunned, Yusuke lowered his hand and stepped back. In all their time of being spirit detectives together, the human boy had never heard Kurama snap so sharply like he just did. Akumo finally drew his weapon, Web Slayer, and began countering Kurama's own attacks. He managed to nick startled Kurama on the shoulder with the sharp blade. The kitsune grimaced but did not stop blocking.  
  
"Rose whip lash!" The last slash of the series got Akumo on the arm. But it didn't faze him; Akumo hit Kurama roughly in the stomach with his weapon and the fox was sent flying into a tree. Kurama cried out then slowly sank down the tree into a slump.  
  
"Kurama!" gasped Kori who was being shielded by Yusuke.  
  
"Hey! Wouldn't it be easier if we helped you?!" Yusuke yelled. He was itching to kick some spider demon ass. Kurama shakily stood up and wiped his jaw. His hand came away red. Blood.  
  
*Kurama's POV*   
  
No, Yusuke. This is my fight. Mine. You don't know. Your mother wasn't killed and hung on a tree. You didn't feel helpless when you watched her body swing slightly in the wind. You don't know the guilt I feel when I think of how I maybe could've protected her. Saved her from this fate. Stopped her suffering. That's why this is my battle alone.  
  
As cold as I seem right now, I don't care. I ignored Yusuke's previous question and he took my silence for a no. The taste of blood was acid in my mouth; I spat it out. Akumo walked up to me and smirked. How I hated that smirk. I wanted to tear it off his face.  
  
"Are we finished already? Too bad. I thought you were tougher than that. But the fact is you're just a weakling."  
  
I will make you eat those words later, Akumo. Stay patient; your death is approaching.  
  
"I might spare you if you beg. Go on, Kurama. Beg....Beg for mercy!"  
  
Never. As Akumo was taunting me, I was slowly regaining my power. I need as much spirit energy as I can possible gather to finish this bastard off.  
  
"Beg just like your worthless mother did." I bristled at the insult; Akumo must've seen me stiffen with anger because his sneer grew wider. "She pleaded for mercy like a pathetic weakling up until the point I strung her....!"  
  
"BASTARD!!! DIE!!!" I snarled, unable to control my fury any longer. Suddenly my soul was pushed down. Rage and anger took over my entire body. 'Oh god.' I thought. 'I'm changing....!'  
  
I watched as my red hair turned silver. My school uniform was instantly replaced by white clothing and furry silver ears made their way painfully onto my head. My canine teeth lengthened and sharpened into fangs as my nails grew into claws. My eyes stung for a moment and I assume they converted to an amber color. Youko Kurama has returned.  
  
I, as Suichi, suddenly understood what happened. Because of my anger, Youko's soul got stronger. He had fed off of my rage until he was powerful enough to bury my soul and allow his own to rise to the surface. This was going to be interesting.  
  
"You....! You're....!" Akumo's face lit up with pure delight. "Youko Kurama! For years, I had imagined of meeting such a clever fiend and fighting with you...." Helpless to contain Youko's soul, the only thing I can do is watch him eventually tear Akumo into pieces. Watch him through his eyes. How ironic.   
  
Youko smiled cruelly; his cold amber eyes shone with joy at being free again. "Fiend?" He asked in a low rumbling voice. So many before had trembled at the sound of it. "You are mistaken; the only fiend around here is yourself. Suichi seems to be quite furious at you. Furious enough to loosen my restraints and let me roam free again."  
  
"Enough talk. Let's fight, Youko. And see who's the more powerful!" Akumo brandished his weapon. Youko Kurama's smile grew wider.   
  
"Feh. You pitiful fool.... To want to fight me is to die."   
  
*How was it? Was the story from Kurama's POV okay? I know this was shorter than usual; sorry! Thanks for reading and please review! 


End file.
